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NEW YORK – The Jill Reinauer, an icebreaking tug homeported in Staten Island, N.Y., is beset in ice after attempting to transit near West Point, N.Y., Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010.

The Jill Reinauer and barge RTC 26 became stuck when the tug Zachary Reinauer, which was breaking ice ahead of the tug and barge, suffered an engine casualty and could not make way. The Coast Guard Cutter Line, homported in Bayonne, N.J., and the Coast Guard Cutter Willow, homeported in Newport, R.I., assisted the tugs and barge, breaking a track that freed them from the ice.

“We arrived on scene and talked with the tug crew to find out their intentions,” said Chief Petty Officer John Kast, Coast Guard Cutter Line’s commanding officer. “They were going to stay on scene to wait for another tug. We broke a track from Magazine Point to Storm King Mountain to clear the way and establish a track for commercial traffic. There was also a southbound tug and barge in the area and we broke a track for them. The Willow soon arrived and assisted further.”

The tugs had been trapped in six to eight inches of brash ice, which refroze once the Zachary Reinauer was unable to make way. Once the tug was freed by the crews of the Line and Willow, the tug Stephen Scott arrived to tow the Zachary Reinauer back to Staten Island. The crews of the Line and Willow continue to patrol the Hudson River.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Matt Fountain)

The views expressed here are those of the authors only and do not reflect the position of The Architectural League of New York.