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Coast Guard breaks the ice for Great Lakes shipping season

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, March 18, 2013 - 6:23 p.m.

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard’s 240-foot-long ship Mackinaw is busy breaking ice in the Twin Ports in preparation for the upcoming shipping season.

The huge ship is the largest U.S. icebreaker on the Great Lakes. Cmdr. Mike Davanzo said 10 officers and 46 enlisted members serve on the Mackinaw.

The Duluth News Tribune reported most of the ice the Mackinaw ran into in the Twin Ports this past weekend was about 20 inches thick. The $80 million ship can easily move through 32-inch ice at a steady pace and ram its way through ice ridges of up to 10 feet thick.

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(7)

Maynard
Mar 19, 2013 at 10:45 a.m.
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No worries: Once interest rates rise and the government can no longer sustain the interest on the national debt ... they will simply do a transfer of 5 to 10 percent from our bank accounts straight to the general fund like Cyprus is doing. Think I will take mine out in dollar bills so there is more padding under my mattress. Expect that plan to gain momentum throughout Europe and then here.

Pastafarian
Mar 19, 2013 at 8:21 a.m.
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C'mon fordfan. They have already paid for the service with their Federal corporate income ta... Never mind....

fordfan
Mar 18, 2013 at 10:02 p.m.
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Isn't the Coast Guard part of the big bad government? Why don't all the business that want to ship early or late on the Great Lakes buy and operate their own icebreaking ships? Tea Partiers should agree with me on this one...

grj1976
Mar 18, 2013 at 9:29 p.m.
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Seen the Mighty Mac in person. Awesome machine!

woodsman
Mar 18, 2013 at 7:57 p.m.
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COOL just fricin COOL!!

birdman
Mar 18, 2013 at 6:40 p.m.
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Tip o' the Hat to "Coasties" everywhere! In my opinion they are under recognized for all the good things they do. And no, I'm not a Coast Guard veteran.

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