Freighter on the move after it was freed from ice on frozen Lake Erie

A cargo ship was en route to Canada on Sunday after being freed from ice that had trapped it in a frozen Lake Erie for days, the US Coast Guard said.

The Manitoulin, a 663-foot (202-meter) Canadian ship with 17 people on board, became stuck in the ice on Lake Erie on Wednesday after dropping a cargo of wheat in Buffalo, New York, and returning to Canada, the Coast Guard said. It was released on Saturday.

The ship was not damaged, and the crew is safe, officials said. Freighters in the Great Lakes often encounter surface ice in the winter, but sometimes run into ice that is too hard or too thick to break through.

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A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker had been working since Thursday to help the Manitoulin, and on Saturday, officials said a second vessel arrived to free the cargo ship. The Canadian Coast Guard also had a ship that helped with the effort.

The cargo ship was guided through almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) of ice from Buffalo until it reached clear water, according to Lt. Kyle Rivera of the Coast Guard.

The freighter must travel the rest of Lake Erie and then the Detroit and St. Clair rivers up to Canada, where it will spend the rest of the winter, Rivera told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“There is ice through other parts of the lake and the rivers, but we have another cutter that will take it through there,” he said.

A US Coast Guard helicopter was on the scene and conducted flights to monitor the situation. A third US Coast Guard vessel was due to arrive on Monday, in case the Manitoulin remained stuck.