But as this year's winter shipping season begins in earnest, the 290-foot cutter will enter the final years of its service. Coast Guard officials say a new Great Lakes icebreaker is long overdue. They began discussing a new ship more than a decade ago, saying that the Mackinaw has outlived its usefulness and costs too much to run.
Ships have a lifespan and once they've reached that lifespan, they break down.
This one's reached her lifespan. When it begins plowing through the lakes' ice-choked channels, the new icebreaker will try to address one of the largest headaches for industries based along the Great Lakes. We have to have dedicated icebreaking coverage on the Great Lakes or we're not going to be able to deliver the shipments that our customers need. The Lake Carriers' Association, a shipping trade group, estimates that American businesses send 150 million tons of raw materials across the five lakes each year with as much as 20 million tons moving through the lakes in the ice season. Iron ore, coal and cement make up the bulk of the winter shipping.