Ottawa/New York - A ship carrying hundreds of passengers stuck in the ice in the Saint Lawrence Seaway off Matane in eastern Canada has been freed, news reports said.

Ice breaker Terry Fox succeed to clear a path for the stricken CTMA Vacancier with 300 people on board on Tuesday afternoon.

However, a second ship, the Georges-Alexandre-Lebel, a cargo ship owned by Canada9s COGEMA shipping company, remained caught in the ice off Matane.

Ottawa - Two ships, one of them carrying hundreds of passengers were stuck in the ice in the Saint Lawrence Seaway off Matane in eastern Canada, news reports said.

Ice breakers had failed to clear a path for the two stricken ships, the CTMA Vacancier ferry with 300 people on board, and the Georges-Alexandre-Lebel, a cargo ship owned by Canada's COGEMA shipping company, Canadian television CTV reported Tuesday. A third ship was freed on Monday.

Passengers on the cruise ship were on their way to a one-week cross country ski tour on Monday when the ship became enmeshed in the ice, but the detour has dampened their holiday mood.

Ottawa - Two ships carrying hundreds of passengers are stuck in the ice in the Saint Lawrence Seaway off Matane in eastern Canada, news reports said.

Ice breakers failed on Monday to clear a path for the two stricken ships, the CTMA Vacancier ferry with 300 people on board, and the Georges-Alexandre-Lebel, a cargo ship owned by Canada's COGEMA shipping company.

COGEMA general director Andre Landry told the French-language newspaper Le Soleil that ice of that thickness has not been observed in the seaway that early in the year for many years.

New Delhi, Jan. 21 : India and Canada have agreed to initiate exploratory discussion towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Commerce and Industry MInister Kamal Nath and Canada''s Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway Stockwell Day agreed on this at a meeting here on January 18.

"We are committed to taking our economic partnership to the next level. The steps taken today will ensure we move towards opening doors for our respective business communities," Nath said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued warnings against two types of pre-packaged sandwiches as they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This would be the second time in less than four months that the Edmonton based sandwich producer has been forced to recall its products.

Whistler, Can