top of page

Catalina Fuels and the St. Lawrence Seaway Winter Fuel Program

  • Writer: Catalina Fuels
    Catalina Fuels
  • Dec 18, 2025
  • 6 min read

A 24/7 fueling partner supporting winter reliability on the Welland Canal


When the Welland Canal shipping season pauses, the work does not stop. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) shifts into winter operations: maintenance, infrastructure renewal, monitoring, and readiness work across the Welland Canal corridor, including the Port Colborne and St. Catharines. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System+1


Catalina Fuels, through the leadership of Commercial Account Manager David Jazvac, is supporting the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation’s winter operations as a fueling partner for the Winter Fuel Program. It provides reliable around the clock refueling for generators and fuel cubes across the Welland Canal corridor in Port Colborne and St. Catharines, Ontario.


During winter months, ice formation near lock approaches and infrastructure can interfere with maintenance and operations. To address this, the SLSMC implements ice-control measures including bubbler or bubble curtain systems at strategic locations along the canal.


Why winter fueling matters on a working canal system

The Welland Canal is a critical section of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system. Even after the navigation season closes, SLSMC continues winter programs to renew and maintain infrastructure, including multi year capital investment projects on the Welland Canal. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System+1


Those winter programs rely on dependable power. Temporary power is commonly needed for site offices, lighting, monitoring equipment, pumps, and maintenance activity. In winter, reliability becomes less forgiving: cold temperatures can reduce battery performance, increase fuel gelling risk without appropriate winter handling, and make emergency response slower if a site runs dry.


That is the operational niche for a 24/7 fueling partner. In practical terms, “24/7” is not marketing fluff. It is an uptime strategy: ensuring generators and fuel storage remain supplied during weather swings, overnight cold snaps, and weekend work windows. Catalina’s service footprint aligns with this kind of requirement. Catalina Fuels provides mobile onsite refueling and generator fueling services in Southern Ontario, including service area listings that include Port Colborne and St. Catharine's. Catalina Fuels Inc+2Catalina Fuels Inc+2



How air bubbler systems de ice water, with the physics explained


A key winter operations challenge around marine infrastructure is ice management. One widely used approach in ports, docks, and confined water areas is aeration based de icing, often called a bubbler or bubble curtain system.


Here is what it is doing, mechanically and thermodynamically.


1) The system creates a rising plume that forces vertical water circulation

A diffuser or perforated airline releases compressed air at depth. As bubbles rise, they drag surrounding water upward, producing an upward flux and a circulation cell. Laboratory testing of linear aeration de icing describes this explicitly: the bubble curtain rises to the surface and moves relatively warmer bottom water upward. poac.com


This is the core mechanism. It is not the air “melting” the ice. The compressor is mainly a pump for circulation.


2) The system exploits water’s density behavior near freezing

Fresh water reaches maximum density around 4 degrees Celsius. In winter conditions, water a few feet below the surface is often closer to that temperature than the surface layer, especially when surface water is cooled to near freezing and ice begins to form. Bubble based systems take advantage of that by pulling that denser, slightly warmer water up toward the surface, weakening ice formation and maintaining open water in targeted zones. This concept is described directly in technical explanations of de icing bubble tubing systems. Bubble Tubing


So the bubbler is not “heating” the canal. It is relocating heat that already exists in the water column.


3) Turbulence disrupts the ice crystal growth process

Ice formation is sensitive to calm surface conditions. When a bubbler creates persistent turbulence and surface motion, it interferes with the formation of a stable, continuous ice sheet. Many practical guides summarize this as circulation bringing warmer water up and preventing surface ice buildup, which aligns with the physics above. Kasco Marine+1


4) Local effects can be engineered by diffuser layout, depth, and air flow

Bubbler performance depends on geometry and conditions: water depth, diffuser placement, air flow rate, and the size and shape of the protected area. The same aeration research that describes the upward warm water flux focuses on performance testing and shows why these parameters matter in real deployments. poac.com


5) Bubble energy can also contribute to ice removal in some scenarios

Beyond prevention, there is active research on using bubble dynamics, including pulsation energy, to remove ice from structures. Peer reviewed work in Ocean Engineering reports experimental bubble de icing systems and investigates bubble pulsation energy for ice removal. MDPI


That is a different regime than a typical marina bubbler, but it reinforces a broader point: bubbles can be an engineered tool for ice management, not just a rule of thumb.


Where fueling and ice management intersect operationally

Even though bubblers are often described as simple systems, their reliability is tied to power and maintenance. Compressors run for long periods. Backup power and generator reliability become part of the ice management plan, especially during overnight conditions when ice growth pressure is highest.


That is one reason winter fuel logistics matter. If a generator supporting critical winter equipment runs out, it is not just a power outage. It can cascade into frozen components, delayed maintenance windows, and harder restarts.


A winter fuel program is essentially risk management: keeping essential systems supplied so winter work can proceed predictably.


Application in the Welland Canal Context

Public documentation for the St. Lawrence Seaway system confirms that the Welland Canal is a critical link in binational waterway infrastructure, and that ice conditions are monitored and managed through official channels. For example, the Seaway’s navigation resources include links to Canadian Ice Service ice condition charts and navigational guidance for ice periods, underlining the operational need for ice-control systems.


While specific bubbler system design details for the Welland Canal are not extensively published online, documented engineering literature (e.g., NOAA reports on air curtain designs) confirms that pneumatic or bubbler systems are a recognized method to prevent ice and improve water circulation. Closing note


The St. Lawrence Seaway system operates to published schedules and invests in winter maintenance and renewal on the Welland Canal. Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System+1 In that environment, reliable onsite power and fueling is a practical requirement, not a nice to have. Catalina Fuels’ published generator refueling and onsite delivery capabilities in Port Colborne and St. Catharines match the needs of winter operations support. Catalina Fuels Inc+1


Sources (with URLs)



 
 
bottom of page