shipping lanes near the Grand Banks, where it will go from day to 

 day, and how long it will last. It is also necessary to be able to fore- 

 cast as accurately as possible how much ice is coming and when it will 

 arrive. In order to handle a problem intelligently it is necessary to 

 learn as much as practicable about the problem, how it began, how it 

 developed, and why it occurred where and when it did. Just as a 

 field general must obtain intelligence on an enemy's strength and 

 the deployment of his forces, so must the Ice Patrol scout the berg 

 crop in northern areas and learn its strength and distribution as it 

 approaches the battlefield on the Grand Banks. This is a neces- 

 sity so that Ice Patrol can intelligently plan its operations, includ- 

 ing the deployment of forces to counteract the iceberg threat. 



The International Ice Patrol must observe and study the ice condi- 

 tions upstream during the winter months and during the ice sea- 

 son as practicable as well as the ice conditions in the vicinity of the 

 Grand Banks during the ice season. There are marked variations 

 in the quantity and location of icebergs from year to year and it is 

 up to the Ice Patrol to find out why. A systematic study of ice condi- 

 tions and influential factors must be conducted from the source of 

 icebergs in Northwest Greenland to the shipping lanes on the Grand 

 Banks. An annual census of entire Baffin Bay and Davis Strait in 

 September of each year and a monthly observation of the next sea- 

 son berg crop as it progresses toward the Grand Banks, is highly 

 recommended. The observed ice conditions must be studied and 

 correlated with measured and assumed meteorological and oceano- 

 graphic elements. As our store of knowledge accumulates, the cor- 

 relation between meteorological and oceanographic conditions and 

 resulting ice conditions will be more accurately known and understood, 

 and iceberg forecasting will be improved. 



In the near future, no great requirement for improvement of the 

 dissemination of ice information to shipping is foreseen. The radio 

 telegraphic transmissions of the twice daily Ice Patrol ice broadcast by 

 Coast Guard Radio Station NIK from U.S. Naval Station, Argentia 

 are satisfactory, but somewhat inadequate in range. Shipping mas- 

 ters have complained about the inability to copy NIK in the eastern 

 North Atlantic. Ships naturally want to know of the Grand Banks 

 ice conditions as they leave port so that the track can be planned 

 accordingly. However, the Ice Patrol ice bulletin is rebroadcast by 

 U.S. Naval Eadio Station NSS and CFH, Albro Lake, Nova Scotia, 

 and it is probable that coverage is attained over the entire North At- 

 lantic most of the time. Daily facsimile broadcasts of ice conditions 

 by the Ice Patrol have been successful since 1962, and have been in- 

 corporated as a regular service to shipping. This means of dissemina- 

 tion of ice conditions is more rapid and more accurate. Unfortu- 

 nately, only a few ship have facsimile receivers. It is anticipated that 



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