Posted on Monday, September 8, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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When Americans think of our coastlines, most picture the beaches of the Atlantic, the Pacific, or the Gulf. But the Great Lakes are America’s fourth coast — a 2,300-mile expanse reaching deep into the nation’s industrial heartland. Each year, this system moves more than 135 million tons of cargo worth over $26 billion, carrying the raw materials that power American industry: iron ore for steel, coal for energy, limestone for construction, and grain that feeds the world.
America’s “comeback” is impossible without the Great Lakes, because of these critical cargoes. The issue, though, is that every winter, this powerhouse faces a perennial challenge: ice.
Despite its coastline, the U.S. Coast Guard operates just one heavy domestic icebreaker on the Great Lakes, the 240-foot Mackinaw. It is a capable ship, what the industry and Coast Guard would call a “heavy” icebreaking vessel, but one vessel cannot be in two places at once. When ice jams up two channels simultaneously, tough choices must be made about which channel to clear and which to leave blocked.
Medium-sized icebreaking cutters can help, but even two or three working together cannot break through the thickest ice. America cannot rely solely on privately operated ice-breaking tugboats, which are even smaller and less effective outside of light port maintenance.
The consequences are costly. In some winters, ice blockages have caused flooding across the Detroit suburbs. These are blockages that a heavy ice breaker could have easily solved. Zooming out to larger impacts across the region and country: ships get stuck, factories delay production, and energy deliveries face disruption. Even a few days of lost cargo can ripple outward: idling assembly lines, inflating costs, and putting jobs at risk.
This is not just a Great Lakes issue. Other major manufacturing states depend on the cargo transported on the Great Lakes. In Texas, 865,000 jobs depend on the steel supply chain based around the Great Lakes. In California, 691,000 jobs rely on Midwestern coal and iron. The list goes on.
Every one of those jobs depends on reliable winter navigation. Without it, we risk supply chain bottlenecks in the very sectors that make America strong: steel, autos, energy, and construction.
Building a second Great Lakes icebreaker represents a national economic investment to keep these supply chains running and reduce the need to import foreign steel, foreign grain, foreign limestone, and foreign coal.
The U.S. House of Representatives has recognized this need; however, as part of the negotiation process for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, lawmakers cut the funding for this second icebreaker. Lawmakers from the region saw the danger clearly. In a June letter to Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), nine Republican members of Congress urged that funding for a new heavy Great Lakes icebreaker be restored in the Senate reconciliation bill.
They pointed out that while the package included every other type of Coast Guard icebreaker, it left out the Great Lakes vessel. But that is not the end-all-be-all.
At a time when agreement across the aisle is rare, there is a broad bipartisan consensus on the need for a stronger maritime sector. President Trump issued an executive order to “restore American maritime dominance,” charting a course to strengthen U.S. shipyards and expand our workforce of 650,000 men and women. Before him, President Joe Biden directed an investigation into Chinese shipbuilding, which continues under this administration, underscoring the risks of falling behind global competitors. And now, Democrats and Republicans together have reintroduced the SHIPS for America Act to accelerate domestic vessel construction and modernization.
A new Great Lakes icebreaker embodies this maritime moment perfectly. American workers would build it in a U.S. shipyard using American steel, and it would serve a uniquely American mission: keeping our inland seas open so our economy can thrive.
Congress now has the opportunity to act. Looking at the legislative calendar for the rest of the year, multiple vehicles exist for America to take itself seriously and not let ice stop the nation from moving. The Coast Guard Authorization bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, and the potential second reconciliation bill suggested by Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger could all provide Americans the relief they need.
By investing in this vessel, lawmakers can deliver a win for the heartland, for American industry, and for the nation as a whole. We will measure the return not just in steel and grain shipments, but in jobs, paychecks, and economic security for millions of Americans. Our great nation and our Great Lakes need another great heavy icebreaker!
James Weakley is president of the Lake Carriers’ Association. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Reprinted with permission from DC Journal by James Weakley.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
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