Summary of Operations 



International Ice Patrol actively 

 monitors the iceberg danger to transatlantic 

 shipping in the region bounded by 40°N, 52°N, 

 39°W, and 57°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. 



Ice Patrol began issuing weekly 

 products on 13 February 2004. Commander, 

 International Ice Patrol opened the season on 

 27 April 2004, and IIP distributed products 



daily until the season's close on 27 July 2004. 

 The opening on 27 April marked the latest start 

 to a season on record. Note: All information- 

 report statistics presented in this summary refer 

 to the period of 1 3 February to 27 July. 



International Ice Patrol's Operations 

 Center in Groton, Connecticut analyzed 1,642 

 information reports from IRDs, merchant ships, 

 Canadian Ice Service reconnaissance flights, 

 the National Ice Center, and other sources 

 (Figure 2). Two-hundred 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 2,862 

 individual targets into BAPS (Figure 4), the 

 drift and deterioration model that Ice Patrol and 

 CIS operate jointly. 



Labrador 



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



