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United Arab Emirates entrepreneur’s $80m plan to drag Antarctic iceberg to Perth

The West Australian
3D concept of iceberg being towed and its metal ‘belt’.
Camera Icon3D concept of iceberg being towed and its metal ‘belt’. Credit: National Advisor Bureau Ltd.

A United Arab Emirates entrepreneur wants to drag an iceberg from Antarctica to Perth — so it can be harvested for drinking water.

Abdulla Alshehi reportedly wants to transport a chunk of Antarctic glacial ice by tugboat to either Perth or Cape Town this year.

The iceberg will then be “harvested” for drinking water under the $80 million plan.

The mission will act as a test run for a far more ambitious project which he hopes will end with a hunk of ice measuring almost 2km by 500m being taken to the UAE.

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The aim would be to provide the Emirates with a steady supply of drinking water, and be a tourist attraction.

Abdulla Alshehi.
Camera IconAbdulla Alshehi. Credit: Abdulla Alshehi / Instagram

Mr Alshehi said it would be cheaper to create drinking water by towing an iceberg than by desalinating sea water.

The block selected for use by the UAE will be chosen via satellite.

It is expected to lose about 30 per cent of its mass during its 10-month journey from Heard Island, near Antarctica, to the Fujairah coast.

The final project will cost between $100 million and $150 million, in addition to the $60 million to $80 million spent on the test run.

“This is the purest water in the world,” he said.

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