Ship with 17 people on board gets trapped in ice on Lake Erie near Buffalo

A Canadian freighter with 17 people on board got stuck in the ice on Lake Erie while departing Buffalo, according to the Coast Guard, which arrived with icebreaking equipment Thursday to begin freeing the vessel.

The 663-foot Manitoulin had dropped off a load of wheat and was heading back to Sarnia, Ontario, on Wednesday when it became stuck in ice that was rapidly forming in sub-zero temperatures off the Buffalo shoreline. It remained there through Thursday, creating a striking sight on the lake, surrounded on all sides by ice and snow.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Bridgette Baldwin told CBS affiliate WIVB-TV that the ice on Lake Erie is thicker than normal right now “so local ice breakers and local Coast Guard vessels don’t have the capability to break ice with that level of thickness.”

“We just haven’t had a bad winter in quite a while. So now that we’ve had one and people haven’t seen this for a bit, they’re like ‘what’s going on?'” said Paul Angelillo, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard in Buffalo.

Great Lakes freighters typically are able to navigate surface ice in the winter, but occasionally encounter ice that’s too hard or thick to break through, he said.

The Manitoulin wasn’t damaged and the captain and crew were safe, the Coast Guard said. A Coast Guard cutter started breaking up ice around the ship by Thursday afternoon.

Efforts to free the ship were paused for the night and were scheduled to resume Friday morning, according to the Coast Guard.

The incident unfolded a day after a U.S. Coast Guard crew rescued two people from an ice floe in Saginaw Bay, Michigan. An ice rescue team was able to reach both people and return them safely to shore, officials said. No injuries were reported.