abc's gia benitez is out in the frozen zone where fire departments, hospitals, and the ships that carrythe cold. >> reporter: michigan's upper peninsula. a lifeline to a frozen nation. here the extreme chill could have disastrous results. the major shipping routes separating the u.s. and canada is where heating oil, coal, and so much else must pass. and there are now just precious days left to get the big ships through. a race against time. >> this is the kind of stuff that we're breaking through right now. that ice is a foot thick. >> reporter: and that's just very difficult ice to break through because when it knits together it knits together stronger than it did before. >> my name is lieutenant commander john henry. currently on coast guard cutter bristol bay heading down down in the st. marie's river system. >> reporter: one of the cutters smashing through these waters around the clock. >> there's no way you can stop in this sound. icebreaking is a very loud job. if you get a strong wind it will blow the track that you've spent so much time building. it will just blow it out of the