BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Canadian cargo ship carrying 17 crew members has become trapped in ice on Lake Erie as it attempted to depart from Buffalo. The United States Coast Guard responded to the situation on Thursday, bringing icebreaking equipment to assist in freeing the vessel.

The freighter, known as the Manitoulin and measuring 663 feet in length, had recently delivered a shipment of wheat and was on its way back to Sarnia, Ontario, when it got ensnared in the rapidly forming ice due to frigid temperatures near the Buffalo shoreline. The ship was caught in the ice since Wednesday, creating a striking visual as it remained surrounded by a thick layer of ice and snow throughout Thursday.

Paul Angelillo, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard in Buffalo, commented on the rarity of such weather conditions. “We just haven’t had a bad winter in quite a while,” he noted. He added that people are surprised by these conditions because it has been some time since they have witnessed such ice formations.

Typically, freighters operating on the Great Lakes can maneuver through some surface ice during winter months, but they can encounter icy patches that are too solid or thick for them to overcome. Nevertheless, the Coast Guard reassured that the Manitoulin had not sustained any damage and that both the captain and crew were safe. By Thursday afternoon, a Coast Guard icebreaker was already in action, working to clear the ice around the stranded ship.