UAE billionaire planning to drag an Antarctica Iceberg to Australia or South Africa
An Arab millionaire plans to drag an entire iceberg to the UAE in a bid to provide fresh drinking water for the drought-hit Middle Eastern nation.
Businessman Abdulla Al Shehi hopes to tow a massive chunk of ice over 5,500 miles from Heard Island, near Antarctica, to the Emirates using a modified tugs boat.
While many people thought it was ridiculous, it seems like they are going full steam ahead with it.
UAE billionaire planning to drag an Antarctica Iceberg to Australia or South Africa
But in order to fully prepare the outrageous plan, they’re running a test phase later this year.
That will involve dragging a chunk of Antarctic ice to the western coast of Australia or the eastern coast of South Africa. The test will cost a casual $80 million.
The UAE is one of the most arid countries in the world and records just four inches of precipitation every year.
Despite its scarcity, the UAE is at risk of severe drought over the next 25 years due to its unsustainable rate of water usage.
UAE investor and entrepreneur Abdulla Alshehi has told Euronews: “As per our analysis, it will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs rather than using desalination water (gained by stripping the salt out of sea water.)
UAE billionaire planning to drag an Antarctica Iceberg to Australia or South Africa
“Desalination plants require a huge amount of capital investment and mean pumping a huge amount of sea water to the gulf, killing fish and marine life.
“We believe it will be economically better and more environmentally friendly to use the icebergs, not just for the United Arab Emirates, but throughout the world.”
An average iceberg contains more than 20 billion gallons of water, according to the Abu Dhabi-based company.
A similar scheme was attempted by Saudi Arabia in 1977 but failed due to technical difficulties.