needs$67milliontobuildthecompanyover
thenextthreeyears.B
ut when it comes to towing a
100 million-ton iceberg through the
notoriouslyroughAntarcticOcean,where
swells regularly reach 15 meters, inves-
torsarebettingonSloane.“I wasthegreat-
estskepticaround,”saysBertMulder,chief
operatingofficerofWaterVision,Sloane’s
Swissbacker.“ThenI startedtolistentoNick
Sloane.If anybodycandoit,it’shim.I truly
believethat.”
Sloane wasbornin NorthernRhodesia,
nowZambia,andgrewupexploringriversand
lakes.“TherewasnoTV,onlybasicradio,so
theoutdoorswasyourlife,”hesays.Atabout
10 hemovedwithhisfamilytoa townoutside
Durban,SouthAfrica,wherehebegansailing
andfoundhelovedoceanracinginstormy
weather,particularlybecausedaringcounted
formorethantacticsalone.Afterhighschool,
hecompletedhisnationalservicewiththe
merchantmarine,thenspent 10 yearsbecom-
inga mastermariner,runningtankersand
cargoshipsandtowingoilrigs.Fromthere,
hestumbledintothehigh-intensityworkof
marinesalvage,wheresuccessfulteamsare
rewardedwithpayoutsof7.5%to10%ofthe
distressedship’sassessedvalue,a feethat
oftenreachesmillionsofdollars.
Today,Sloanespendsroughlysixmonths
oftheyearinCapeTownwithhiswifeand
threekids.Buthe’s alwaysoncallforhis
employer,ResolveMarineGroup,a globalsal-
vagecompanybasedin Florida.Fromoneday
tothenext,hemightfindhimselfrappelling
froma helicopterontoa burningsupertanker
orusinghisconnectionsandorganizational
skillstooverseethecomplicatedlogisticsof
cleaningupa toxicspillinremotewaters.
TheicebergisSloane’ssideproject,and
he’senlistedperhapsthebiggestnamesin
thegame.ThefirstisGeorgesMougin,the
FrenchengineerwhomPrinceMohammed
tapped as CEO of his company,Iceberg
TowingInternational.Now 91 yearsoldwithbushyeyebrows—butstillsharpandadapper
dresser—Mouginhasspentmuchofthepast
fourdecadesexploringthetechnologiesand
materialstobeusedforicebergtransport.
ThesecondisOlavOrheim,trimandener-
geticat77,whoservedasdirectorofthe
NorwegianPolarInstitutefrom 1993 to2005.
Orheimhasprobablylandedatopmoreice-
bergsthananyoneintheworldandonce
wasstrandedovernightononewithDavid
Attenborough,theEnglishbroadcasterand
voiceofthenatureseriesPlanetEarth.
Togetherwithoceanographersandengi-
neers from Norwegian and South African
universitiesandfromgovernment-affiliated
institutessuchasthePretoria-basedCouncil
forScientificandIndustrialResearch,Sloane’s
teambeganforginga planandsoonattracted
presscoverage.“Unfortunately,thefirstarti-
clecameoutonApril1,”Sloanesays.“People
stillthinkit’sanAprilFools’joke.”
Theteamis focusedonlyonAntarcticice-
bergs, whichbreakofffromthegiantsea
shelfthatextendsfromthesoutherncon-
tinent’s landmass. These are often hun-
dredsoftimesbiggerthanArcticicebergs,
and thebiggest are almostalwaystabu-
larandthereforemorestable.Bycontrast,
Arcticicebergs,mostofwhichdescendfrom
Greenland’s steep glaciers, are typically
irregularandcontainweakspotsthatmake
themliabletosplitorflip.
Usingsatellitedata,theteamwillidentify
anicebergthat’stherightsizeandshape
andona courseforGoughIsland,a tinyland-
masshalfwaybetweenAntarcticaandCape
Town—about1,600milesfromSloane’sfinal
destination.(Therearetypicallythreeorfour
desirablebergsavailableonanygivenday.)
Next,they’llinspecttheicebergonlocation,
usingsonarandradarscanstodetermineits
precisedimensionsandcheckforstructural
flaws.If everythinglooksgood,theteamwill
employtwotugboatstoencirclethebergin
a giganticnetof5-inch-diameterropesfash-
ionedfromDyneema,a supermaterialthat,
unlikemetalcables,is neutrallybuoyantand
alsostrongerandbettersuitedforlowtem-
peratures, friction, and tension.Costing
about$25million,thenetwillextendabout
2 milesacrossand 60 feethigh.It willactas
a kindofbeltaroundthebellyoftheiceberg,
whichcouldreachmorethan 70 stories below
the surface of the ocean.BloombergBusinessweek |SoonerThanYouThink June 10, 2019“If we hit the wrong current, that’s
it. Then we’ll have to call up the
Aussiesandsay, ‘Do you want to buy
aniceberg?’ ”69