Ice Patrol in flight

Part of the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Ice Patrol flies over southern Greenland in a helicopter two or three times a week, surveying and photographing inshore ice. Together with satellite data, model forecasts and shipping reports, they produce ice charts and reports that are vital for navigating Greenland’s ice-strewn waters.

The morning after we arrived, we dropped in on Ice Patrol officers Ulrich and Kim at their sunny offices next to the airport. The most recent ice chart and aerial photographs showed only light ice, mainly offshore of the islands and skerries up to Nanortalik Island. Around Nanortalik and further south-east into the fjord system that leads to Prince Christian Sound, however, there was considerable loose pack ice, bergs and bergy bits.

For the next few days, in the variable light winds and surprisingly mild temperatures typical of Greenland during the summer months, we sailed down the length of the breathtaking Tunulliarfik Fjord. After a brief refuelling and provisioning stop at Qarqatoq, we headed for the town of Nanortalik – ‘the place of polar bears’ in Greenlandic – which stands on an island by the same name.

Our strategy of staying inshore and venturing out to sea only occasionally to pass headlands had worked so far. Now, however, standing on the boom as we approached the intricate channel that leads to the town from the north, Magnus could see ice. But as hard as he squinted through the binoculars, he couldn’t establish how much