Lake Superior Vessel Convoy is Struggling

My internet has been down since Sunday morning so I did not get a chance yesterday to finish this post.  Thankfully, Hiawatha Telephone was able to talk me through re-programming the modem.  It is still not working as it should, but it is working.

Thanks to Carol Rose who called me yesterday I was able to get some photos of a convoy of five freighters and two ice cutters making slow progress as they travelled through the thick ice on Lake Superior north of Grand Marais.

The convoy started at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, MI with two ice cutters leading the way through the thick ice of Lake Superior.

First I drove down to the end of Coast Guard Point to get some photos.  First one of the freighters and ice breakers.  Yes the freighter is surrounded by ice.

The picture below shows one of the ice cutters plowing through.

While at the point, I took a few other photos.

 

Next I drove over to Agate Beach and captured several photos.

On my way home I stopped by Bayshore.  One of the employees, Meagan, told me about the webpage to find out more about the convoy vessels.  The webpage is www.marinetraffic.com     I did some screen captures to show you the vessel convoy.  Using one of the webpage capabilities, I found out that they were 9.7 miles north of Grand Marais.  In the photo below, there are seven icons representing the seven vessels.

Here is the information about the seven vessels.  First the two ice breakers....

Then the five freighters....

 

It took the convoy one day to get through the thick ice in front of Grand Marais and another day to travel towards Copper Harbor on the way to ports in Duluth MN, Superior WI, and Two Harbors MN.  Below is a track map as well as data from one of the ships.  Notice that the ship seemed to be stopping and starting to make slow progress.

 

I checked this morning and the freighters did reach their ports.  The Mackinaw is currently in Duluth and the other ice cutter (Raddison) is on the way to Thunder Bay.