Shipping on Lake Ontario during winter months may become easier, as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, announced Monday support for legislation that would provide the U.S. Coast Guard with funding to purchase new icebreaking machinery.The funding would allow the Coast Guard to acquire a newly constructed combination icebreaker-buoy tender, which would assist in keeping vital shipping lanes open in the winter.
“Keeping these critical shipping lanes free and clear of ice is vitally important, not just to the ships that travel through the Great Lakes, but to the industries that depend on the wide variety of goods that are delivered,” Schumer said.
The new icebreaking equipment will also benefit communities along Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River. According to Schumer, during winter, Great Lakes vessels carry 20 percent of the iron ore that is used in the country’s manufacturing heartland.
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