Summary of Operations 



As mandated by the International 

 Convention for the Safety o\' Life at Sea 

 (SOLAS) and U.S. Code, International Ice 

 Patrol (IIP) monitors iceberg danger near the 

 Grand Banks of Newfoundland from 15 

 February to 01 July. This time period is 

 regarded as the Ice Season because the Grand 

 Banks are normally iceberg-free from August 

 through January. In practice, however, IIP 

 services will commence whenever iceberg 

 populations pose a significant threat to the 

 primary shipping routes between Europe and 

 North America and continue for the duration of 

 that threat. The severity of ice conditions 

 dictates the frequency of IIP product 

 distribution. Weekly products commence the 

 first Friday following 15 February and continue 

 until such time that the severity of the ice 

 conditions necessitates that daily products be 

 transmitted. 



In 2006 IIP actively monitored the 

 iceberg danger to transatlantic shipping in the 

 region bounded by 40°N, 50°N, 39°W, and 

 57° W (Figure 1). For the 2006 Ice Season, IIP 

 began issuing weekly products on 17 February 

 2006. Due to light ice conditions, daily 

 products were not required throughout the 

 season. IIP monitored iceberg populations, and 

 issued weekly products through 01 July 2006. 

 Note: All of the statistics reported in this 

 summary are taken from data gathered during 

 the 17 February through 01 July 2006 time 

 frame mentioned above. 



HP's Operations Center in Groton, 

 Connecticut analyzed 775 information reports 

 from IRDs, merchant ships. Canadian Ice 

 Service iceberg and sea-ice reconnaissance 

 flights, the National Ice Center, and other 

 sources (Figure 2). Of these reports, 123 

 contained ice information (Figure 3). These ice 



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



