transmitting station for the bulletins was the 

 Marine Communications and Traffic 

 Services St. AnthonyA/CM. IIP also 

 prepared an ice chart depicting the 1200Z 

 Limit of All Known Ice for broadcast at 

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

 Guard Communications Area Master 

 Station Atlantic/NMF and the National 

 Weather Service assisted 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 transmitted HP's ice chart. 

 Finally, both the bulletin and chart were 

 placed on HP's website. The ice chart was 

 also made available via plain paper 

 facsimile and e-mail on demand. 



IIP transmitted 292 scheduled ice 

 bulletins in 2002. IIP measured the quality 

 and timeliness of the bulletins delivered to 

 the mariner via the SafetyNET service, as 

 this is the primary product for MP's largest 

 customer base. Of 292 total bulletins sent, 

 289 (99%) arrived at the system on time, or 

 by OOOOZ or 1200Z, respectively. The late 

 deliveries were due primarily to minor 

 technical difficulties in sending the product 

 through MP's commercial INMARSAT 

 provider. All of the tardy deliveries 

 occurred early in the season and 

 subsequent process revisions eliminated 

 late deliveries. 



In 2002, IIP produced 147 ice charts 

 that were distributed via HF radiofacsimile, 

 e-mail on demand, and published on the 

 WWW. Of these, 144 (97%) were 

 delivered on time. Late ice charts were 

 defined as those for which the radio 

 frequency start tone starts greater than one 

 minute later than the scheduled 

 transmission time (1600Z or 1810Z). The 

 primary cause of late ice charts was 

 difficulty getting the signal from IIP through 

 the line to CAMSLANT. 



Safety Broadcasts 



IIP sent 19 unscheduled safety 

 broadcasts during the 2002 season for 

 iceberg or stationary radar target sightings 

 near or outside the published LAKI. Of 

 these 19 broadcasts, six were for ice 

 reported outside the published LAKI, three 

 for icebergs inside but near the LAKI, and 

 the remaining ten detailed stationary radar 

 targets. 



Historical Perspective 



To compare ice years in a historical 

 perspective, IIP uses two different 

 measurements. The first is the season's 

 length in days (Figure 6). The second is 

 the number of icebergs south of 48°N 

 (Figure 7). This measurement includes 

 both icebergs detected south of 48°N and 

 those that were originally detected north of 

 48°N but were later predicted to have 

 drifted south of 48°N. The 2002 season 

 lasted for 147 days and saw 877 individual 

 icebergs south of 48°N. The icebergs 

 south of 48°N measurement is generally 

 preferred by IIP because it places the 

 emphasis on icebergs that represent a 

 significant hazard to transatlantic shipping. 

 Season length is coupled with the number 

 of icebergs south of 48°N as Commander, 

 International Ice Patrol considers the 

 overall iceberg population and dates for the 

 opening and closing of the ice season. 



2002 

 2001 



S 2000 



1999 

 1998 



50 



100 

 Days 



150 



200 



Figure 6. Length of ice season in days since 1998. 

 Tine climatoiogical (three year) mean is 134 days. 



