The biggest ice cover on North America ’ s Great Lakes in decades is backing up important shipping deliveries with 18 freighters currently wedged in the ice , unable to move . Extraordinary aerial photographs taken above Whitefish Bay on eastern Lake Superior , Ontario , show some of the freighters lined up across a frozen expanse . They are carrying a variety of goods from Canadian grain to US iron and steel but are being hampered by slabs of ice as big as pick-up trucks , it ’ s been reported . Scroll down for video . Stuck in the middle with you : Freighters trapped in ice are shown in this photo on Tuesday near Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior northwest of Sault Ste . Marie , Ontario . The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley is shown in this aerial photo near Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior . The icebreaker was participating in an effort to free eight freighters from heavy ice . The biggest ice cover on North America ’ s Great Lakes in decades is backing up important shipping deliveries with 18 freighters currently wedged in the ice , unable to move . Nowhere to go : The James R Barker Lake Freighter is shown trapped in ice in this aerial photo near Whitefish Bay . Mark Gill , director of vessel traffic services for the U.S. Coast Guard , told the Duluth News Tribune : ‘ This is just crazy how much ice we have out there , we ’ ve had 35 square miles of ice descend upon and affix itself [ to existing ice ] . ’ The ships desperately need a path cut through the lake by Canadian and US ice breakers , which have been hampered by the extreme conditions . Gill added : ‘ The ice is very mobile . There ’ s a lot of water in it . Hit with the icebreakers , it moves and doesn ’ t take the break . It ’ s been very slow to say the least. ’ The ice breakers on the scene include the US Coast Guard cutter Alder – the largest US icebreaker , according to the Tribune . Breaking point : The ships ’ ability to manoeuvre is extremely limited because the ice is able to penetrate their hulls . The ships desperately need a path cut through the lake by Canadian and US ice breakers , which have themselves been hampered by the extreme weather conditions . The US Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw ( right ) works in thick ice to break out the freighter Edwin Gott in Whitefish Bay . The Samuel Risley makes slow progress through the frozen expanse , which contains slabs of ice the size of pick-up trucks . Mark Gill , director of vessel traffic services for the U.S. Coast Guard , said 'this is just crazy how much ice we have out there ' The ships ’ ability to manoeuvre is extremely limited because the ice is able to penetrate their hulls . One ship , the Kaye E. Barker , tried to make some headway but the ice put a hole in her side , meaning she had to dock in Waiska Bay and transfer her cargo to another ship . In California , meanwhile , it ’ s the heat that ’ s the problem . The state is experiencing its fourth year of severe drought and pictures have emerged of workmen demolishing swimming pools , their owners opting to have them removed in the face of mandatory reductions in water use .
Aerial photographs taken above eastern Lake Superior show the freighters lined up across a frozen expanse . The ships , carrying raw materials , are being hampered by slabs of ice as big as pick-up trucks , it ’ s been reported . Their ability to manoeuvre is extremely limited because the ice is able to penetrate their hulls .