VIDEO: Hop aboard a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker as it clears the St. Marys River

SooToday set sail Monday to see how ice-breaking gets done

With the Soo Locks scheduled to open for the Great Lakes shipping season Mar. 25, SooToday cameras visited the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw Monday, as it sailed along the St. Marys River crushing sheets of ice three feet thick.

USCGC Mackinaw officers told us the ship has been busier than usual this year as it carries out its annual icebreaking operations, in order to clear the way for the freighters that travel the lakes.

The Mackinaw, one of the U.S. Coast Guard's biggest and best ships for icebreaking, is 240 feet in length, and the view from the vessel’s bridge, four storeys high, is impressive.

The ship’s maximum speed, with a full load and calm water, is 15 knots (17 miles per hour or 27 kilometres per hour).

The Mackinaw has a range of 4,000 nautical miles and, with its crew of 9 officers and 46 crew members, can stay on the waters for 21 days at a time without replenishment.