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US Coast Guard cutter rescues trapped Canadian sailboat from Arctic sea ice

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In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken Saturday July 12, 2014, crewmembers on the Coast Guard Cutter Healy make contact with a mariner aboard his 36-foot sailboat trapped in Arctic ice approximately 40 miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States. The Coast Guard freed the Canadian sailboat, the Altan Girl out of Vancouver, that was attempting to sail to eastern Canada through the Northwest Passage. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The U.S. Coast Guard has freed a Canadian sailboat that became trapped in Arctic ice off the north coast of Alaska.

KTUU-TV (http://bit.ly/1nyaGCF) reports the 11-metre Altan Girl out of Vancouver was attempting to sail to eastern Canada through the Northwest Passage.

It became trapped in ice northeast of Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States.

The Coast Guard cutter Healy reached the sailboat, and with the Altan Girl in tow, on Saturday cut a 19-kilometre path through ice to open water.

The sailboat’s owner says he intends to wait in Barrow for better weather and to restock supplies.

The Healy is on a National Science Foundation funded research mission in the Arctic. The Coast Guard says the cutter is continuing with its research.

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The Associated Press

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