MASSENA, NY – The Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the St. Lawrence Seaway is scheduled to open at 8 a.m. Sunday, and ice-clearing activities will begin shortly, including in the area between the Eisenhower and Snell locks On Tuesday morning, the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Martha L. Black arrived in Montreal, awaiting her journey upriver. She will be the primary vessel to transit the distance of the Seaway and to create a path where needed.
“In Beauharnois area, the use of a Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft will work between that lock and the South Shore Canal,” said St. Lawrence Seaway shipping industry expert Michael Folsom, also founder of the St. Lawrence Seaway Ship Watchers Network Facebook page.
Beauharnois, in southwestern Quebec, is about 25 miles southwest of Montreal on the south shore of Lake Saint-Louis, which is a widening of the St. Lawrence River. It is situated on the east bank of the Beauharnois Canal, a key part of the Seaway.
“Things will be assessed ahead of Sunday to determine focus areas, as the South Shore Canal is a choke point as we saw in January,” Folsom said.
In January, several ships became trapped in ice on the river, including off Cape Vincent, which caused the latest closing date, Jan. 12, in Seaway history. Vessels had to wait at several points on the river, pushing back the final clearance schedule. “Our portion of the river seems to have broken up enough that navigating vessels most likely would not have issues pushing ahead,” Folsom said. “The U.S. Seaway team will do their thing around the Massena locks per usual.”
Martha L. Black. [René Beauchamp]
NNY 360
