On October 22nd 2014, the New York Power Authority announced it is spending $4.9 million to buy two new tugboats. NYPA is replacing the two boats that they use for installing and removing the ice boom between Buffalo and Fort Erie.

The Power Authority is buying the new tugboats to replace two others in its four-vessel fleet that are used to keep the Niagara River water intake clear of ice during the winter. The tugs also are used to install and remove the 8,800-foot-long ice boom where Lake Erie flows into the Niagara River.

The Power Authority will share the cost of the new tugboats with Ontario Power Generation, which also uses the vessels to keep the Sir Adam Beck Pump Generating Station clear of ice.

One of the tugboats that is being replaced is more than 50 years old, while the other has been in service for more than 30 years.