50 



100 

 Days 



150 



200 



Figure 6. Ice season lengths since 1995. 



During the ice season, IIP prepares 

 and distributes ice bulletins at OOOOZ and 

 1200Z daily to warn mariners of the 

 southwestern, southern, and southeastern 

 LAKI. U. S. Coast Guard Communications 

 Area Master Station Atlantic/NMF and 

 Canadian Coast Guard Marine 

 Communications and Traffic Service St. 

 John's/VON are the primary radio stations 

 responsible for the dissemination of ice 

 bulletins. In addition, ice bulletins and 

 safety broadcasts are delivered over the 

 INMARSAT-C SafetyNET via the Atlantic 

 East and West satellites. Another 

 transmitting station for the bulletins is the 

 Marine Communications and Traffic 

 Services St. AnthonyA/CM. IIP also 

 prepares an ice chart depicting the 1200Z 

 limit of all known ice for broadcast at 

 1600Z and 1810Z daily. U. S. Coast 



2001 



P89 



2000 IMF^ 

 1999 if 22 



T 



.(y;».sw;t,tKaci.f!.;!ag 



^843 



S 1998 



31380 



1997 C 

 1996 C 

 1995 



51011 



gpeiij 



11432 



250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 



Icebergs 



Figure 7. Icebergs south of 48°N since 1995, 

 excluding growlers, bergy bits, and radar targets. 



Guard Communications Area Master 

 Station Atlantic/NMF and the National 

 Weather Service assist with the 

 transmission of the ice chart. On the 

 eastern side of the Atlantic, the German 

 Federal Maritime and Hydrographic 

 Agency stations Hamburg/DDH and 

 Pinneberg/DDK transmit HP's ice chart. 

 Finally, both the bulletin and chart are 

 placed on HP's website. 



IIP transmitted 186 scheduled ice 

 bulletins in 2001. IIP measures the quality 

 and timeliness of the bulletins it delivers to 

 the mariner via the SafetyNET service, as 

 this is the primary product for HP's largest 

 customer base. Of 186 total bulletins sent, 

 182 (98%) arrived at the system on time, or 

 by OOOOZ or 1200Z, respectively. Of the 

 186 bulletins, 185 (99%) were error free 

 when delivered. The late deliveries were 

 due primarily to minor technical difficulties 

 in sending the product through HP's 

 commercial INMARSAT provider, and the 

 one erroneous bulletin was due to human 

 error. 



IIP also sent 18 safety broadcasts 

 during the 2001 season. IIP sends these 

 special broadcasts whenever late-breaking 

 ice information is received. Of these 18 

 broadcasts, seven were for icebergs 

 outside the LAKI and resulted in a LAKI 

 change. The remaining 1 1 were for 

 stationary radar targets and did not result 

 in a LAKI change. Four of the icebergs 

 outside the LAKI were reported by the 

 National Ice Center and three were 

 reported by merchant ships. 



In 2001, IIP created 93 ice charts 

 graphically depicting the limit of all known 

 ice. The ice charts were transmitted twice 

 daily for a total of 186 transmissions via 

 radio facsimile. Of these, 177 (95%) were 

 delivered on time. Late ice charts were 

 defined as those for which the radio 

 frequency start tone began more than one 



