Reinforcements are set to join the Coast Guard Cutter Mobile Bay to begin icebreaking operations in the Bay of Green Bay on Monday. The Sturgeon Bay-based tug, along with the CGC Mackinaw and CGC Neah Bay, will begin with the canal working into the Devil’s Triangle area out towards Chambers Island. Director of Vessel Traffic Services Mark Gill says the ice is much thinner than normal.
Gill says thin ice can actually be more dangerous to vessels traversing the bay because they have limited room to navigate around small icebergs that form as the spring thaw begins. Mobile Bay will begin clearing the canal to allow the winter fleet to leave next week.