A Marine Atlantic passenger ferry finally broke free of pack ice off Cape Breton on Thursday morning, after a Canadian coast guard icebreaker helped clear the way.

The icebreaker Louis St. Laurent reached the Caribou, moving back and forth to cut a channel to allow the vessel to make its way through heavy ice off the mouth of the Sydney harbour.

The ferry the Caribou arrives safely at port after making its way through heavy ice.
(CBC)

The Caribou, which had been stuck since Tuesday with more than 200 passengers on board, finally cleared the ice just before 10:30 a.m. AT.

The breakthrough came several hours after an ill passenger had to be airlifted from the ship in a dramatic nighttime rescue.

A 28-year-old man from the Sydney area was airlifted from the Caribou around midnight Wednesday. Reports initially suggested he had a heart attack, but a military spokesperson later said it was an anxiety attack. The man is in good condition at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

Steve Mitchell, a passenger on the ferry, said many people on the ship rushed to the deck to see the military Cormorant helicopter hovering above.

"It was absolutely amazing to see," he said in an interview with CBC News before the Caribou was freed from the ice. "It made us all feel great about those people and the work that they do."

'It was absolutely amazing to see.'—Passenger Steve Mitchell, describing the airlift

The Cormorant search-and- rescue helicopters are based in Greenwood, N.S.

Ferry routes between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland were expected to return to normal later Thursday, though freezing rain and high winds are in the forecast.

Marine Atlantic said two of its ferries would leave North Sydney on Thursday en route to Port aux Basques to help alleviate the clogged transportation route.

Transport trucks carrying goods between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have been held up since Monday.

The ferry Leif Ericson reached port in Cape Breton on Monday, but high winds and ice kept it from using the regular dock in North Sydney. On Wednesday morning, that ship was finally able to manoeuvre to its pier.