Icebreaker summoned to Nova Scotia port

SYDNEY, Nova Scotia, March 19 (UPI) -- A Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker headed to the port of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Wednesday to help a ferry blocked by thick ice, Coast Guard officials said.

More than 170 passengers and their vehicles have been stranded aboard the M.V. Caribou since midday Monday because a freak ice jam in the Sydney Harbor has sealed off a docking point where vehicles can be offloaded, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.

Tara Laing, a spokeswoman for Marine Atlantic, told the broadcaster Canada's largest icebreaker, the Louis St. Laurent was on its way from Quebec City to free up the harbor.

"What's occurring in Sydney Harbor is that we have a significant amount of ice and it's packed very tight, combined with sustained high winds, Laing said. "The direction of the winds is really pushing the ice and compacting it, making it very difficult for any movement at all."

She said about 30 miles of ice had been compacted into a 10-mile stretch in the harbor.

The icebreaker was expected to arrive Wednesday night and spend hours grinding through the ice, the report said.