By Associated Press Traverse City, Mich. — Last winter's deep freeze that slowed Great Lakes shipping to a crawl caused $705 million in economic losses and highlighted the need to bolster the U.S. Coast Guard's icebreaking fleet, a trade association said Tuesday. The prolonged cold produced the thickest and most expansive ice cover on the lakes in 35 years. By early March, about 92% of their surface was solid. Coast Guard crews toiled more than five months breaking ice to keep shipping lanes open, finally calling a halt in mid-May. Despite their efforts, the volume of freight hauled on the lakes by U.S.-flagged vessels between Dec. 1, 2013, and May 30, 2014, was nearly 7 million tons...
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