U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw will enter Green Bay at Rock Island Passage on or about the first of March and will operate in Green Bay the first two weeks of March. While in Green Bay, Mackinaw will be performing a series of operational tests to evaluate and record the performance of shipboard systems in ice. The cutter will base their operations out of the Marinette Fuel Pier, east of the Ogden Street Bridge, Marinette, WI. This will require daily transits of the Menominee River as well as operations in Green Bay north of a line drawn from Peshtigo Reef Light east to Sherwood Point along the Door Peninsula. USCGC Mackinaw will transit along the charted Lake Carriers Association (LCA) track lines upon entering and exiting the bay of Green Bay. The specific ice trials will occur in the triangle between Green Island, Chambers Island and Sherwood Point.
Additionally, USCGC Mobile Bay will be participating in these ice trials. Based in Sturgeon Bay, WI, Mobile Bay will begin daily transits of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal from the Michigan Street Bridge to Sherwood Point. Recreational ice users along this channel, especially in the vicinity of Potawatomi State Park should be aware of this icebreaking transit.
Recreational users of the ice should plan their activity carefully, use caution near the ice, and stay away from shipping channels and the charted LCA track lines.
Further inquiries or specific questions regarding the exact timing of these events can be made by phone to the Ninth District Public Affairs Office at (216) 902-6020 or to the Vessel Traffic Service in Sault Ste. Marie at (906) 635-3232.
