Information Reports 



As in previous years. IIP requested 

 voluntary information reports from all ships 

 transiting the Grand Banks region. Ice Patrol 

 requested that ships report ice sightings, radar 

 targets, weather, and sea surface temperatures 

 via Canadian Coast Guard Radio Station St. 

 John's/VON, U. S. Coast Guard CAMSLANT, 

 or — using code 42 — Inmarsat-C and himarsat- 

 A. Ice Patrol encouraged ships to make ice 

 reports even if no ice was sighted because 

 knowledge of the absence of ice is also 

 fundamental to accurate product generation. 

 The continued success and viability of the 

 International Ice Patrol depends heavily upon 

 all who contribute information reports. 



Merchant shipping provided the 

 majority of reports. In 2004, 139 ships from 34 

 different countries provided IIP with 1,379 

 reports — 84% of total reports — demonstrating 

 that the number of nations using Ice Patrol 

 services exceeds the 17 member nations that 

 support IIP under SOLAS. Furthermore, the 

 international merchant fleet's high level of 

 participation in 2004 indicates the value of Ice 

 Patrol products and services. For the second 

 year in a row, the merchant vessel Berge Nord 

 (Norway) made the most reports to IIP, 

 submitting a total of 99. Appendix B lists the 

 ships and all other sources that made 

 information reports during the 2004 season. 



While the majority of information 

 reports came from merchant shipping. Ice 

 Patrol also received valuable information from 

 many Canadian Government sources. These 



Figure 2. Reporting sources of the 1.642 information 

 reports received by IIP in 2004. Information reports 

 include ice, sea-surface temperature, and weather. 



sources include the Canadian Ice Service's 

 aircraft, contract reconnaissance flights by 

 Provincial Aerospace Limited, HMCS and 

 CCG vessels, and coastal lighthouses, all of 

 which combined provided 129 reports, or 8% 

 of the year's total. Finally, other sources (e.g., 

 fishing vessels, commercial aircraft, recreation 

 boats) — some for which the platform is 

 unknown — provided the remaining 5% of 

 reports. Figure 2 provides a breakdown of the 

 sources of all information reports received in 

 2004. 



Ice Reports 



Only 272 of the 1 ,642 reports sent to Ice 

 Patrol contained ice information. The 

 Canadian Government provided 43% of ice 

 reports and the international merchant fleet 

 33%. The remaining 24% came from IIP 

 reconnaissance, the National Ice Center, and 

 other sources, some for which the platform is 

 unknown. Figure 3 displays a breakdown of 

 ice report sources. 



NIC 



Other 



Unknown 



Merchant 

 Vessels 



33% 



Figure 3. Reporting sources of the 272 ice reports 

 received during 2004. Ice reports include icebergs and 

 stationary radar targets. 



Merged Targets 



The 272 ice reports received by IIP 

 contained 2,862 targets that were merged into 

 BAPS. The Canadian Government reported 

 65% of merged targets while IIP, the National 

 Ice Center, and merchant shipping reported 

 22%. Targets transferred via BAPS (Ice 

 Patrol's iceberg drift and deterioration model) 

 made up the remaining 13%. These latter 

 targets were originally sighted north of Ice 



