THE ICE PATROL.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18521, 29 December 1931, Page 3

THE ICE PATROL.

PROTECTING SHIPPING. A HAZARDOUS UNDERTAXING. INTERNATIONAL ACTION. Of all the forms of sea ice, the iceberg is the most spectacular and the most dangerous to shipping. The pack of the ice-floes, though it covers approximately two million square miles and constitutes about 70 per cent of the Polar Basin, is no menace to ordinary commercial shipping. Vessels are occasionally nipped in the pack ice, but these are invariably exploring vessels and whalers, sealers, and the like. The pack ice of the polar cap is sea ice—he., seawater which has frozen: icebergs are derived from land ice, almost exclusively from glaciers which have reached sea lever and there “calved" off the Icebergs by water pressure. The only North Polar land which has extensive icebergs to any appreciable extent is Greenland. The Greenland icebergs arc brought down by Ihe prevailing south-flowing currents into the North Atlantic, where they spread out over Newfoundland Banks until they cross, in many instances, the steamer tracks from America to Europe.

Cunard the Pioneers.

To ihe Canard Steamship Company is due the credit for the fact that in 1875 the first practical steps were taken to reduct the number of casualties due io icebergs. Instructions were given to their shipmasters to follow a course to the south of the zone where icebergs were normally to be. expected. The xvest-boilnd route was was run to thd point latitude 43 6. and longitude 50 w., and the east-bound route 60 miles to the southward. Some of the other larger or more progressive lines followed the example of the Cunard Company, with the result that the number of accidents shower a gratifying decrease. They were, however, still sufficiently serious. Between 1880 and 1890 no less than fourteen vessels were lost and forty seriously damaged off Newfoundland.

The majority of the vessels engaged in the transatlantic traffic still fol lowed courses through the ice longitudes (45th to 52nd meridians) despite tho evidence of greater safety to be obtained by following the safer route amounted to 100 miles, and we ail know the inherent tendency of humanitv to “cut the corner.”

In 1898 the transatlantic Track Conference was formed to establish prescribed tracks for shipping, and as a result of their deliberations all passenger-carrying companies a,grced to various route east and west according to the seasons. In spite of all precautions tire risk of serious accidents was by no means eliminated, and marine disasters continued to occur off the Newfoundland Banks, culminating in the loss of the Titanic off tho Tail of the Bank, with 1500 lives in 1912. -gDCHiaK/.;> !

The First Patrol

A* a result "of this disaster an inituNational ice patrol was established, lby British auxiliary barque Scotia inaugurating the first systematic patrol of the ice regions off Newfoundland in tho Spring of 1913. Besides the practical work of determining the position of Icebergs and warning ships of their presence, the ice patrol In its seventeen years of service, and especially' since 1921, lias investigated ice problems and the oceanographical data connected therewith. Under the London Convention the United States Government assumes responsibility for Ihe operation of the lee patrol, the expenses being divided among the maritime nations adhering to the pact, each paying a contribution based on its ocean tonnage. The United States Coastguard Service supplies the ships and the men. and the United States Hydrographic Office co-operates to give publicity to tbe scheme. The United States authorities have interpreted their duties and responsibilities in a wide sense, and not only is the actual patrol efficiently carried* out hut a great amount of scientific Investigation into meteorological and oceanographical conditions Is carried on as well.

A Splendid Record

During the first 13 years of the ice patrol service not a single life has been lost on the United SlatosEurope track,- and no vessel has been sunk as tho result of a collision with an iceberg. Tho ice regions through which the, routes pass arc in reality far too large to be properly patrolle I by a slnglo vessel, and the most northerly and the most hazardous, that between Canada and Europe, does not receive such close attention as the more populous United States-Europe route. Before April 10 all IransAt lan tic steamship tracks excess the lco regions south of the Tail of the Grand Bank, but after that date the Ganada-Europe, routes separate from the United States-Europe routes, so that during the ice season (which lasts from March to July), when the icebergs arc the greatest danger to navigation, there are two paths of ocean travel separated by several hundred miles. Nearly every year damage to some vessel Is reported on the Gape Race routes and occasionally a loss of life. If the international lec patrol toe not extended to the northern steamship routes there is always the liability of another serious disaster occurring. Practically all passenger ships now follow the prescribed routes, and also many freight vessels, particularly those belonging to well-known lines. Many “tramp” steamers persist even to day In cutting through tho ice region, and so Incur grave risks. In 11)2f) the second Convention for the Safety of Eife at Sea met in London and provided for a third additional vessel for the international lee patrol. Each year the United States Coastguard Service publishes a report on the season's work. The radio traffic handled by the ice patrol In the las! five years lias increased by 300 per cent.,' which hears testimony to Hi,, jnrrea.vd use made of and va’ue attached to (tils service by North Atlantic shipping.