NEW YORK-The Coast Guard has completed icebreaking operations on the Hudson River as temperatures have risen to above freezing levels.
A fleet of eleven cutters from New York and New England helped to maintain waterways open to commercial vessel traffic from New York and New Jersey to Albany, N.Y.
Coast Guard icebreakers logged 868 hours of icebreaking, assisting 168 commercial vessel carrying approximately 12.5 million barrels of petroleum products, 670,000 tons of construction materials and other commodities.
In addition to the icebreakers, the Coast Guard Auxiliary flew 210 reconnaissance flights to inspect ice formations.
“Our active duty and auxiliary crews did a tremendous job this winter,” said Lt. Cmdr. Edward Munoz, Coast Guard Sector New York’s Chief of Waterways Management Division for the New York region. “Thanks to the cooperation between all the waterway users and the Coast Guard, we were able maintain open tracks with very few vessels needing direct assistance from our cutters.”
Now that the ice season has ended, icebreakers will be reassigned to conduct other Coast Guard missions, such as search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security.
