After being freed from the ice on frozen Lake Erie, the cargo ship was put into action

The U.S. Coast Guard said the cargo ship headed for Canada on Sunday after being freed from days of frozen Lake Erie ice.

A 663-foot (202-meter) Canadian ship with 17 people on board got stuck in ice on Lake Erie and returned to Canada after dumping a cargo of wheat in Buffalo, New York on Wednesday. , – the Coast Guard said. He was released on Saturday.

Officials said the ship was not damaged and its crew was safe. Cargo ships on the Great Lakes often encounter surface ice during the winter, but sometimes they encounter ice that is too hard or thick to pass through.

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A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker had been working to help Manitoulin since Thursday, and on Saturday officials said a second vessel had arrived to free the cargo ship. The Canadian Coast Guard also had a vessel assisting in the effort.

According to Coast Guard Lt. Kyle Rivera, the freighter was escorted through the ice about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Buffalo before reaching free water.

Rivera told The Associated Press on Sunday that the freighter should travel the rest of Lake Erie, then go up the Detroit and St. Clair rivers to Canada, where it will spend the rest of the winter.

“There is ice in other parts of the lake and rivers, but we have another cutter to get it through,” he said.

A US Coast Guard helicopter flew over the scene to monitor the situation. A third U.S. Coast Guard vessel was scheduled to arrive Monday in case the Manitoulin remains stuck.