The Canadian freighter Manitoulin was en route to Ontario after leaving Buffalo, N.Y., when it got stuck on Jan. 22
A Canadian freighter is stuck in ice on Lake Erie as it was leaving Buffalo, N.Y., and the U.S. Coast Guard is currently working on freeing the vessel, The Associated Press, NBC affiliate WOOD, CBS affiliate WIVB and ABC affiliate WKBW reported.
The Manitoulin, a 663-foot freighter, became stranded on Wednesday, Jan. 22, when ice rapidly formed amid freezing temperatures off the Buffalo shoreline, the AP reports.
At the time, the vessel, which is carrying 17 people, was en route to Sarnia, Ontario, after making a wheat delivery.
The U.S. Coast Guard was notified about the freighter Wednesday morning, and a Coast Guard ice-breaking tug, Bristol Bay, arrived the following afternoon to help the freighter’s crew, WKBW reported.
“The situation that we are facing here on Lake Erie is that we have greater ice thickness than usual so local ice breakers and local Coast Guard vessels don’t have the capability to break ice with that level of thickness,” U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Bridgette Baldwin said, according to WIVB.
In a Friday, Jan. 24 news release shared with PEOPLE, the U.S. Coast Guard said the tug has been moored in Buffalo following hours of ice-breaking operations. The agency also said that it requested the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard to conduct ice-breaking on the Great Lakes.
“The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley is an ice-breaking buoy tender home-ported at Canadian Coast Guard Base Parry Sound in Ontario, Canada,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in its news release. ”The CCGS Risley has gotten underway from Windsor, Canada to assist.”
The agency added that the Samuel Risley has the capability of breaking ice up to 3.3 feet thick at 3 knots.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that the 17 people on board the stranded freighter have five days of provisions, adding there have been no reports of safety concerns for both the crew or the freighter at the moment.
“The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard are working closely to deploy all necessary assets to assist the MANITOULIN,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Armstrong, Commander, Sector Detroit said in the news release. “Safety of life on our waterways remains paramount and both Coast Guards will continue to monitor the situation and render assistance as necessary.”
Both the Bristol Bay and the Risley are expected to resume ice-breaking operations to help the Manitoulin on Saturday, Jan. 25.
The Fox Forecast Center reported that Lake Erie is usually the first lake to freeze because it is the most shallow.
“You have this very cold air and this blast of cold air that we’ve had over the past couple of weeks, it has shot up the ice coverage dramatically,” said Fox Weather meteorologist Marissa Torres.
Paul Angelillo, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard in Buffalo, told the AP there hasn’t been a bad winter in a long while.
“So now that we’ve had one and people haven’t seen this for a bit, they’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ ” he said.
