Summary of Operations, 1996 



The 1 996 IIP year (October 1 , 1 995 - Sep- 

 tember 30, 1996) marked the 82nd anniversary 

 of the International Ice Patrol, which was estab- 

 lished February 7, 1914. HP's operating area is 

 enclosed by lines along 40°N, 52°N, 39°W and 

 57°W (Figure 1). 



MP's first preseason aerial ICERECDET of 

 the year departed on January 23. The 1996 IIP 

 season was opened on March 15 and from this 

 date until July 17, 1996 an ICERECDET oper- 

 ated from Newfoundland every other week. The 

 season officially closed on July 22, 1996. 



MP's Operations Center in Groton, Con- 

 necticut analyzed the iceberg sighting informa- 

 tion from the ICERECDETs, ships, Canadian Ice 

 Services (CIS) sea ice/iceberg reconnaissance 

 flights, and other sources. Air reconnaissance, 

 consisting of Coast Guard (IIP), Other Air Recon, 

 and CIS was the major source of iceberg sighting 

 reports this season, accounting for 61.9% of the 

 icebergs sighted in 1996 (Table 1). Ships pro- 



vided 21.0% of the iceberg sightings received by 

 IIP in 1996. Their continued active participation 

 Indicates the value that they place on MP's ser- 

 vice. In 1996, 243 ships of 40 different nations 

 provided ice infomnation to IIP. This demonstrates 

 the number of nations using the services of, and 

 contributing to, IIP far exceeds the 17 member 

 nations underwriting IIP under SOLAS 1974. 

 Appendix B lists the ships that provided iceberg 

 sighting reports, including reports of radar targets. 

 In Appendix B, a single report may contain mul- 

 tiple targets. 



The largest contributor of air reconnais- 

 sance reports was Provincial Airlines Limited 

 (PAL). Their reports accounted for nearly all of 

 the category "Other Air Recon" on Table 1 . PAL 

 is a private company that provides aerial recon- 

 naissance services for the Canadian Department 

 of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) year round, and 

 for the Atmospheric Environment Service of En- 

 vironment Canada (AES) June through Decem- 

 ber. DFO flights, which are designated to moni- 



Table 1 



Sources of All Sightings 



Entered into HP's Drift Model 



Table 2 

 Sources of Limit-Setting Icebergs 



