SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — Ships are moving again after U.S. and Canadian crews worked to clear the way through ice on eastern Lake Superior.

The Canadian Coast Guard says icebreakers are expected to continue to escort freighters on Thursday after helping them get through ice Wednesday in the Whitefish Bay area. The ice had left about 18 ships unable to move.

Warmer air and westerly winds had loosened ice and pushed it around Whitefish Bay. Some ships had been stranded since Sunday and officials said the freighter Kaye E. Barker had a hole punched in its hull by ice.

The Canadian Coast Guard released a video of an ice breaker at work.

The cargo shipping season started last month on the upper Great Lakes, but the need for icebreaking work had been anticipated.