U.S. Coast Guard Ice Breaker Arrives In Nantucket Harbor
Jason Graziadei •
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Shackle visited Nantucket Harbor on an ice-breaking mission on Thursday.
The 65-foot harbor tug, which left its homeport of Portland, Maine, 10 days ago, has been in high demand during the deep freeze impacting New England. Before it arrived in Nantucket today, the 63-year-old Shackle was breaking ice in Boston and New Bedford.
The vessel is one of six WYTL harbor tugs working around the clock right now to break up ice in harbors and waterways up and down the northeast region.
"It does great in the ice," said the Shackle's officer in charge, BMC Christian Dipaolo. "So she drafts about 12 feet, and she can break up to nine inches of ice at the the current moment. She is 63 years old and these boats have been around for a long time. There are six of them all over the northeast area to assist this mission. We have them breaking right now in New York, the Connecticut River, up in Boston, all the way up into Maine."
The vessel is designed to break up ice with both its reinforced hull, as well as its wake. On Thursday, it easily cut through the ice just off Straight Wharf and the Nantucket Boat Basin. Last weekend, the ice prevented Hy-Line Cruises from making all of its trips to Nantucket on Saturday, but the Steamship Authority has been able to continue its operations despite the conditions.
Dipaolo and his crew of six usually sleep in the cramped quarters of the Shackle below deck, but have managed to spend a few nights in better accommodations during a few of their recent stops. Tonight, they will be hosted by Nantucket's master chief John Lowell and his crew at Coast Guard Station Brant Point.
"The crew has been immaculate," Dipaolo said. "It's a small boat, and when you put seven people on board, you kind of become a family. We're a small crew, so we align every single person to step in as part of this mission. This cutter is usually designed for inner harbor areas, staying close to home, those kind of situations, so to have us push this far south to deal with the ice is something that's really been unprecedented."
Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey, the former master chief at Coast Guard Station Brant Point, said it had been 12 years since a Coast Guard ice breaker had been sent to Nantucket. Back in 2014, the Coast Guard had sent a 140-foot ice breaker. Prior to that, the island saw ice breakers during the winter of 2004.
