southward at times as far as latitude 50°15' X. persisted until the middle 

 of June. This gave rise to confusion among some ships' masters who, 

 anxious to use Canadian Seasonal Track "G" and heeding only that the 

 Strait of Belle Isle was open, set a course on this track only to find that 

 their route was blocked by the offshore ice. Several ships were beset. It is 

 unfortunate that these ships had given so little consideration to the Ice 

 Patrol bulletins which clearly stated that a southward diversion was 

 necessary. 



By 15 June all field ice was gone from the eastern approaches to the 

 Strait of Belle Isle and that route was in wide use. High numbers of bergs 

 were present on Track "G" from the 1,000-fathom line to the Strait but 

 this is a usual condition which ships using the Strait of Belle Isle must 

 expect . 



During April and May a high concentration of bergs grounded on the 

 northern slope of the Grand Banks and off the southeast coast of New- 

 foundland. Shipping through this area reported sighting more bergs than 

 have been encountered in recent years. With the opening of the St. 

 Lawrence Seaway in May, the volume of traffic also reached high propor- 

 tions. Many ships continued to use Track "E" until mid-June staying- 

 south of latitude 46° X. 



In May and June numerous bergs in the Cape Race vicinity drifted 

 westward and several entered Placentia Bay. This is a most unusual oc- 

 currence as bergs are seldom seen west of the 54th meridian. 



Track B remained free of any ice threat during June. The nearest en- 

 croachment occurred on the loth when a large berg under the guard of 

 the Androscoggin reached position 42° X. 48°30' W. just 30 miles from the 

 eastbound lane before it recurved northeastward under the influence of 

 (he Atlantic Current. The last berg to achieve any significant southward 

 drift melted on 1 July in 43° X. 48°35' W., which was the day that Track 

 "("', passing through this point, became effective. 



Until 1 1 July the presence of the patrol cutter was required to stand by 

 several bergs drifting between latitudes 45° X. and 44° X. and not too 

 distant from eastbound Track "C". By 14 July no ice existed south of 

 the 46th parallel and the surface patrol was terminated. 



Icebergs all over the Grand Banks deteriorated rapidly in late June and 

 early July so that by mid-July only a remaining few were grounded in the 

 area east of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and there were none 

 on the eastern slope of the Banks. Continually warming sea temperatures 

 and receding ice limits assured that no more ice would threaten the major 

 transatlantic shipping lanes in 1959. The services of the International Ice 

 Patrol were terminated for the season on 17 July 1959. 



Except for damaged hull plating and propellers of ships attempting to 

 work through pack ice to enter Newfoundland ports, the only known 

 casualty due to ice within the Ice Patrol area occurred on the night of 

 24 May when M/S Lydia Marie, a 150 ton Xewfoundland coastal freighter 

 struck the sloping face of a large growler estimated 100 feet long, 50 feet 



