The 2013 Ice-Breaking Season Is Lasting Longer Than Usual.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw breaks ice for the motor vessel Manitowoc during an escort through the upper St. Mary's River, April 3, 2013.
The 2013 ice-breaking season is lasting longer than usual due to higher-than-average snowfall across the northern Great Lakes.   Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Nate Poppink

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw breaks a relief tract for the motor vessel Paul R. Tregurtha in Whitefish Bay, April 3, 2013.
The 2013 ice-breaking season is lasting longer than usual due to higher-than-average snowfall across the northern Great Lakes.   Coast Guard photo by Lt. Stephen Elliott


The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw enters into a field of frozen pancake ice in Whitefish Bay, April 3, 2013.
The 2013 ice-breaking season is lasting longer than usual due to higher-than-average snowfall across the northern Great Lakes.   Coast Guard photo by Lt. Stephen Elliott

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw breaks thick ice in Whitefish Bay, April 3, 2013.
The 2013 ice-breaking season is lasting longer than usual due to higher-than-average snowfall across the northern Great Lakes.   Coast Guard photo by Lt. Stephen Elliott

USCGC Mackinaw Breaks Ice In Lake Superior

Lights from the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, a 240-foot Icebreaker homeported in Cheboygan, Mich., illuminate the ice pack off the fantail of the cutter as the cutter spends a night in Western Lake Superior off Duluth, Minn., March 16, 2013. The Mackinaw (WLBB-30) is the only U.S. heavy ice breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes and in addition to heavy icebreaking other missions of the crew include servicing buoys, search and rescue, law enforcement, and the ability to deploy an oil skimming system to respond to oil spill situations. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the USCGC Mackinaw

USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB-30) on April 2, 2005. Photo by Peter J. Markham.

What makes an icebreaker different from other vessels?  It is in the configuration of the bow, which is made to ride up onto the ice and the weight of the ship smashes the ice.