U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bridle breaks ice on the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bridle breaks ice on the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bridle breaks ice on the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bridle breaks ice on the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich. — Staff photo by Joe Phelan

U.S. Coast Guard cutters Tackle, left, and Bridle cruise through ice on the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.

Standing on deck of the cutter Tackle, U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Lia Chasteen, the officer in charge of ice breaking on the Kennebec River, watches as Bridle runs onto the ice just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tackle crew member steers north from Bath on the Kennebec River at start of ice breaking mission on the Kennebec River on Wednesday .

After crashing into the ice, crew members on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tackle look behind to see if ice has cleared out to back up during an ice-breaking mission the Kennebec River just south of Chop Point on Wednesday in Woolwich.