NEW YORK – The Coast Guard has begun icebreaking operations on the Hudson River to allow commerce to continue through the cold winter months.  Oil barges navigate up the Hudson between New York and Albany and the ice must be broken up to allow them to continue their travel, said Petty Officer Thomas McKenzie.

“Approximately 300 vessels transit the Hudson River during the winter months carrying 5 million barrels of petroleum products to the communities of the north region that includes home heating oil impacting hundreds of thousands of people who live in that area,” he said. “The Coast Guard does maintain a presence on the river during ice breaking season which runs from December 15th until the end of March.”

The Coast Guard also conducts daily reconnaissance flights, providing updated information about ice conditions, which is them transmitted to waterway users.