Season Starts Today! Spar Arrives to Break the Lakers Out

Action at last, and it has been non-stop today since 9:00am! Leading the charge was the cutter Spar, making the first and most difficult cut in the ice with the goal of freeing the first two ships of the season out of their slips, which is what is featured in this video. The Spar can break up to 3ft of ice, and judging by a few pieces that turned over and how she struggled in certain areas, it was close to that thick in some spots. Following her, the two tugs North Carolina and Missouri moved in, chipping away at the sides much closer than Spar could, eventually getting enough so Mesabi Miner could start moving at about 5pm, which will be in an upcoming video. Sounds like the plan from here will be to get Mesabi Miner out of the bay, under the bridge (requiring her to ballast down to avoid scraping the bottom) and into the ore dock. Then over the evening Oberstar will make her way out as well and depart for Marquette MI unless plans change again. Heck of a lot going on, you can follow the action live at Duluth Harbor Cam if you wish, otherwise stay tuned for more tomorrow!