Summary of Operations 



International Ice Patrol (IIP) actively 

 monitors the iceberg danger to transatlantic 

 shipping in the region bounded by 38°N, 52°N, 

 36° W, and 59° W (Figure 1). Ice Patrol 

 formally begins ice reconnaissance and product 

 dissemination when icebergs threaten the 

 primary shipping lanes between Europe and 

 North America. This threat usually begins in 

 February and extends through July, but IIP 

 commences operations when iceberg conditions 

 dictate. Except during unusually heavy ice 

 years, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland are 

 normally free of icebergs from August to 

 January. 



The 2005 preseason Ice 



Reconnaissance Detachment (IRD) departed on 

 27 January to determine the prevailing ice 

 conditions in the North Atlantic. This and 

 subsequent IRDs observed significantly lighter- 



than-normal ice conditions, which never 

 warranted issuing daily ice-limit bulletins. Ice 

 Patrol did, however, issue weekly ice-chart and 

 bulletin updates each Friday from 18 February 

 to 1 July. The following statistics refer to the 

 period of 18 February to 1 July. 



International Ice Patrol's Operations 

 Center in Groton, Connecticut, analyzed 804 

 information reports from IRDs, merchant ships, 

 the Canadian Ice Service (CIS), the National 

 Ice Center (NIC), Provincial Aerospace 

 Limited (PAL), and other sources (Figure 2). 

 Seventy-two of these reports contained ice 

 information (Figure 3), ranging from single or 

 multiple iceberg sightings to stationary radar 

 targets and sea ice. From these reports, IIP 

 merged 125 individual targets into BAPS 

 (Figure 4), the drift and deterioration model 

 that Ice Patrol and CIS operate jointly. 



Figure 1. HP's operating area. T indicates location of Titanic's sinking. 



