Canadian Coast Guard frees U.S. ship trapped for days on Lake Erie

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Griffon, seen on southern Lake Erie, on its way to reach the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson, which is stuck in ice near Conneaut Harbor, Ohio. (Submitted photo / Canadian Coast Guard / The Canadian Press)

CONNEAUT, Ohio - Two Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers have freed an American freighter stuck in the ice for days on southern Lake Erie.

A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard says the S.S. Arthur M. Anderson had been trapped in the ice near Conneaut Harbor, Ohio, about 75 kilometres northeast of Cleveland, since Tuesday.

Carol Launderville says two Canadian Coast Guard Ships, the Griffon and the Samuel Risley, created a track through the ice north of the Anderson in order to free it.

Launderville says that the Griffon has moved on to help escort an oil tanker in Nanticoke, Ont. and the Samuel Risley is now escorting the Anderson to the Detroit area, which could take a day or more depending on the ice conditions.

Launderville says none of the ships were in danger.

A U.S. Coast Guard report said the Anderson was the last ship in radio contact with the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald before it sank in a Lake Superior storm in 1975 killing all 29 onboard.