No. The primary mission of the NIC is to provide strategic, tactical, and operational ice products and services to meet requirements of U.S. national interests and U. S. government agencies. Our products, available on the World Wide Web, are used by outside organizations to derive or interpret information of scientific value.

The mission of the International Ice Patrol is to monitor iceberg dangers near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and provide the limits of all known ice to the maritime community. While icebergs are a constant navigational hazard in the Arctic, the cold Labrador Current carries some of them south to the vicinity of the Grand Banks and into the great circle shipping lanes between Europe and the major ports of the United States and Canada. Vessels transiting this area try to make their voyage as short and as economical as possible. Therefore, ships in the vicinity of the "limits of all known ice" normally will pass just to the south of this boundary. Vessels passing through the Ice Patrol’s published ice limit run the risk of a collision with an iceberg. In this area, the Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream and the temperature differences between the two water masses can reach up to 20 degrees Celsius, which may result in dense fog. The combination of icebergs, fog, severe storms, fishing vessels, and busy Trans-Atlantic shipping lanes makes this area one of the most dangerous to navigate through. This fact was grimly brought to light with the sinking of the R.M.S. TITANIC in 1912, after it struck an iceberg and approximately 1,517 passengers and crew perished.