Research Of The Feasibility Of Iceberg Hauling For Water Supply

In the past, businesses and countries around the world have transported fresh water by using tankers as the way of shipping this cargo. But recent studies show that instead of filling tankers up with water there is an alternative way of supplying fresh water to countries that are intended to solve drought and water supply shortages. Georges Mougin, a French engineer in the 1970’s, invented the idea and a system for towing icebergs across the ocean in order to supply drinking water to foreign countries. That obviously never happened, but interest in the challenge continued.

As water shortages and crises emerge new interest develops and the feasibility of iceberg hauling is again brought into the public's eye. Many water projects are denied due to their environmental impact. Iceberg hauling has none the above restraints. The icebergs are already calved and broken off of the continent of Antarctica and thus the hauling does not further environmental degradation. Using tugboats to tow ridiculously large icebergs from Antarctica to countries in the Middle East, such as India, is currently being explored as being more environmentally friendly, logistically appealing, and within a reasonable time frame to make the trip worthy of transporting fresh water to needed areas rather than conventional tankers. However, some environmentalists and scientists are skeptical. According to recent research, it was estimated that one iceberg holding twenty billion tons of fresh water could supply enough fresh water for one million people in India for approximately five years in just one trip as opposed to the constant flow of tankers to the region to capture the fresh water runoff from the icebergs. Now that’s impressive.

The debate over the environmental effects are mixed. Currently, with global warming, scientists and entrepreneurs believe that it’s a waste for the icebergs with tons of fresh water to just melt away and be wasted in the salt waters off Antarctica. In addition, ecologists believe that in the drought burdened areas of India, the cool air that would emanate from the iceberg would send condensation into the air and have a positive effect on the climate. It is believed that the condensation in the atmosphere would cause clouds to form and hence rain would fall. As promising as this seems, others are not so optimistic about the ripple effect it may have on other ecosystems in the area. For example, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are saltwater bodies of water. As the iceberg melts, and a portion of it will, fresh water will be released into the salt water. Disrupting the chemistry of the current water supplies will affect plant and fish life through the cooling of the water. In addition, the size of the iceberg would displace the existing water and the inevitable melting would raise the sea level. Using tankers instead of towing the iceberg would eliminate these environmental effects.

Logistically, advanced scientific technology is being developed intended to reduce project costs, ensure zero melting during the transportation phase, and facilitate the water-transfer process to customers at minimal costs in India. The estimated cost of transporting a large iceberg from the North Pole to the Red Sea was approximately 100 million dollars, yet the current cost of desalination and filtration systems of India’s present water supply is also exorbitant. Fresh water filled tankers also requires desalination and filtration upon arrival to India. It is estimated that the cost of a tanker at sea is about $75,000 per day. Multiply that times the number of trips and tankers required and the cost has now skyrocketed. What it comes down to is what is feasible and what is practical. Teaming up with technological experts at Dassault Systems, Mougin figured out a way to cut costs and deliver the iceberg in a shorter amount of time than it would take to deliver the same amount of fresh water by tanker. Using a sophisticated method of wrapping the correct size and shape iceberg in a geotextile belt and then extending it to the depth of the iceberg would ensure that any jagged edges would not get caught along the route. By planning the transport during the correct season using currents and satellite images of the ocean topography, Mougin discovered that the iceberg could be moved safely, timely, and therefore be more cost effective.

Researchers believe the time frame of shipping water to India with just one iceberg as opposed to using numerous tankers per year could begin within the next few years. Towing an iceberg of this size would supply the middle east with enough water to last an enormous amount of time which would reduce the number of voyages. Instead of constantly going back in forth shipping water endlessly using tankers. Meanwhile, it also reduces the fuel cost and crew cost of said voyages because we are not only using less fuel by towing the icebergs but the crew will not be on a never ending voyage to an from each country.

Previously, this paper has largely discussed the feasibility and logistical challenges which plague different ways of bringing water to the world’s driest regions. Now it will solely look into the logistical hurdles and feasibility of shipping Icebergs. Businesses around the world have plans to transport behemoth icebergs, but no one has dragged an iceberg from Antarctica to another part of the world for consumption. The people who take on this task must look into the wages, crew requirements, the melting rate as the iceberg transitions between the pole to warmer waters, ships, investors, the time it takes to ship, lead time, storms, fuel, securing the berg to ships, and insulation for the Iceberg. Mougin, the leading visionary for the transportation of icebergs as a feasible source of freshwater, works closely with glaciologists and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has begun the process of working to bring one of the behemoths to the coast of an arid nation. However, there are a number of challenges when shipping an iceberg across 1000 miles of open ocean. In Mougin’s study, his team creates a simulation of the transportation of an iceberg from searching for the proper type all the way through rigging the correct fence and insulation around it to the final task of towing the iceberg through the currents to its destination. The first task in harvesting an iceberg is deciding which one to choose. Many of the icebergs that break away are jagged and are unstable for transport. This is because the center of mass of an iceberg is high and when horizontal force is applied to move the berg, it will roll over or fracture. The ideal iceberg is one called by glaciologists, a tabular iceberg (gfdl. noaa. gov).

These icebergs “break off from ice shelves in “calving events” and account for about 90%, by mass, of all the ice that is calved from the Antarctic ice shelves” (gfdl. noaa. gov) this allows the ship towing the iceberg to have maximum control and “presents the minimum risk of fracture” (Fast Company). The importance of bringing the iceberg to its destination intact is paramount, because as the Ice fractures, more surface area allows for quicker melting and for more water to be lost on the voyage. If the Iceberg stays together the melt rate would be maintained to a minimum because “around 80 percent of their overall mass usually remains underwater, while the exposed white ice above reflects sunlight and thus heat which reduces the amount of water that evaporates” (Independent. co. uk). On average Icebergs hold about 20 billion gallons of water, enough to sustain 1 million people for five years (Fast Company). Evaporation would result in a loss of fractions of a percent in comparison to the total mass.

As the Iceberg is dragged from its original location, the voyage planners relay information to the crew as to the direction to steer. The crew cannot steer directly at their destination because of the power it would take to tow the Ice. ; they would primarily use the ocean currents. Taking advantage of the power of the ocean to propel the Iceberg forward. The purpose of the boat is to guide the Ice and help it make small adjustments to keep it in the desired current. As it rides the current, the estimated time from beginning to end of the voyage varies depending upon when the Iceberg is going. If it is traveling the current off the coast of South Africa, the Ice would only have about a month transit time, but if it is going North to the Middle East or North Africa. The lead time would be upwards of 10 months. This is due in large part to the speed of the current which move at a speed of about 1. 5 kilometers per hour (oceanservice. noaa. gov). The distance is 10,000 kilometers from antarctica to the middle east and at an average of about 1000 kilometers per month it takes an average of 10 months. Aside from the intricacies of choosing the perfect iceberg to tow 10,000 kilometers across the ocean while navigating the currents. The foundation for an expedition to the South Pole must be laid first. One which encompasses the proper equipment, funding, ships and man power, to successfully ship a multi-million ton behemoth across open ocean.