I worked on similar ships on the Great Lakes in January on Lake Erie. We too were locked in the ice for about a day and were “set free” by a US Coast Guard ice breaker.
Sometime around 1984-85 I played in a band. One of our stops was The Reef in Port Huron - right on the Huron River.
It was early spring and the ice flow off the lake had made the river impassableble for the ore boats. A US Cutter and. Russian cutter were both cruising the river to open things up.
On Saturday night, the Russian trawler parked on the river next to the restaurant, and some of the crew came ashore for dinner and R&R.
The Reef waitresses were pretty hot, and the inevitable happened. The bantan weight restaurant manager, whose golden gloves nickname was “Speedy” - made quick work of one drunken Russian while the rest of the sailors backed off. Speedy bought them all drinks and a good time was had by all.
I was witness to an international incident of small significance and it was great.
In between sets, I went up to get a beer and the sailor that tangled with Speedy started talking to me in very good english. He was amazed that this little guy subdued him and was in awe.
I miss those days, sometimes. I understand that Speedy passed in a boating accident. The Reef burned to the ground in 1986.