174 MAPtlON EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STIIAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 



In the remaining dangerous months of the ice season succeeding 

 the Titanic disaster, the United States Navy patrolled the waters 

 south of Newfoundland, and in the following year the United 

 States Coast Guard took up the duty. In the autunni of 1013 a Con- 

 vention for the Safety of Life at Sea was called in London, where 

 the principal maritime nations of the world provided, among other 

 things, to establish a continuous ship patrol of the eastern, south- 

 ern, and western limits of drifting Arctic ice during the most dan- 

 gerous part of the year. The continuous guard is inaugurated with 

 the first appearance of icebergs around the Grand Bank, usually the 

 latter part of March, and the service is discontinued after the dangers 

 largely disappear, usually about the 1st of July. Twice daily a de- 

 tailed broadcast by radio informs all approaching ships the up-to- 

 the-hour position and behavior of the ice. Extensive scientific stud- 

 ies are conducted which lead to a better treatment of the ice problems 

 and a greater safety guaranteed to life and property on the North 

 Atlantic. The Marion expedition to Greenland in 1928 is an example 

 of the work being carried out by the international ice patrol. Under 

 the London convention the United States Government assumes the 

 operation of the patrol, the expenses being annually divided among 

 the nations a party to the pact, each paying a quota based on its pro- 

 portional ocean tonnage. The Coast Guard is the service in the 

 United States which supplies the ships and men, and the United 

 States Hydrographic Office cooperates to give publicity and its aid to 

 the project. 



The ice patrol during the first 15 years of its service has estab- 

 lished an excellent record. Not a single life has been lost on the 

 United States-Europe tracks since the patrol's establishment, and 

 no vessels have been sunk as a result of collision with icebergs. 

 Although the entire ice regions embraced by the lane routes are 

 the pi\)vince of the ice patrol the area is much too large for one 

 vessel alone to properly patrol it. The United States-Europe lane 

 routes being the most populous are therefore the ones most carefully 

 guarded, and the more northerly routes between Canada and Europe 

 (the most hazardous), can not unfortunately receive such close 

 attention. A perusal of the effective dates of the various lane routes, 

 moreover (p. 171), shows tliat prior to April 10, all trans-Atlantic 

 steamship tracks cross the ice regions south of the Tail of the Grand 

 Bank, but after that date the Canada-Europe routes separate from 

 the United States-Europe ones, so that during the ice season when 

 bergs menace navigation in greatest numbei's, there are two ])aths 

 of ocean travel separated by a distance of several hundred miles. 

 Almost every year witnesses the damage to some craft on the Cai)e 

 Race roTites, and occasionally a loss of life. If the international 

 ice patrol system is not extended to the northern steamship lane 

 routes another serious marine disaster similar to tliat of the Tiian'ic 

 is liable to occur. 



In 1929 the second Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea met in 

 London and provided for a third, additional vessel for the inter- 

 national ice patrol. 



Each year the LTnited States Coast Guard publishes a report of 

 the season's events. A descri])tion of the technical methods and 

 the problems of the ice patrol are discussed and described. These 

 bulletins clearly show that the work has been increasing rapidly in 



