Coast Guard prepares for Great Lakes icebreaking

DETROIT (AP) The U.S. Coast Guard is preparing for the 2009-2010 Great Lakes icebreaking season.

The Coast Guard's icebreaking work is designed to help clear the way for commercial vessels on the Great Lakes as well as help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with flood mitigation efforts in the region.

The Coast Guard runs what it calls Operation Taconite from Sault Ste. Marie and Operation Coal Shovel from Detroit.

Taconite includes Lake Superior, the St. Marys River, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Michigan and northern Lake Huron. Coal Shovel includes southern Lake Huron to Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The icebreaking tug Penobscot Bay from Bayonne, N.J. is joining eight Great Lakes-based icebreakers for the season.

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U.S. Coast Guard, 9th District: http://www.uscg.mil/d9

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)