Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-10)

watersources.“Wedonothavetheluxuryto

discardoptions,”saysDhesigenNaidoo,CEO

ofSouthAfrica’sWaterResearchCommission,

a nonprofitfundedbythecountry’swatertax.

“Anicebergis 99%purewater,andyouhave

theprospectofthatsittingonyourdoorstep

ina giantchunkthatyoucantapinto.It’sa

terrificidea.”

Timeisrunningout forSouthAfricato

order an iceberg for delivery this year.

Instead,politicianswilllikelyprayforrain,

whichis frustratingforSloane’sbackers.“We

silentlysometimesthink,A littlemoredrought

couldbringtheprojectcloser,”saysMulderof

WaterVision.“Butatthesametime,youwish

thebestforthepeoplein CapeTownandthat

abundantrainfallcomes.”

I

n earlyApril,SloanejetstoParistovisit

MouginandOrheim,whobothlivethere.

Dressedin a well-cutbluesuitandbrown

leatherdressboots,helookslikeanyother

businessman,butfortheOakleysunglasses

hangingfroma cordaroundhisneckandhis

Thulebriefcase,whichisworntothepoint

ofshreddinginonecorner.Overtheprevi-

ousmonth,he’sbeentoEngland,Japan,and

Mozambiqueforsalvagework.“IthoughtI

wasgoingtohavetoattendtoa shipwreck

in Yemen,butit workedoutthatI couldcome

here,”hesays.

Sloanehasputmorethan$100,000ofhis

ownmoneyintotheSouthernIceProject.

“Ifyou’daskedme 10 years ago, I probably

would have said this was crazy, but now the

time is right,” he says, sitting in the lounge

at the InterContinental Paris Le Grand Hotel,

where he’s staying. Cape Town, he points

out, is by far the most conveniently located

city for a pioneer tow, given its relative

proximity to Antarctica and the path of the

Benguela Current, but he believes icebergs

may eventually be pulled to Perth, Australia,

and Santiago, Chile. “And if you can get it to

Cape Town, you can get it to Namibia and

maybe as far as Angola.”

For now, Sloane is focused entirely on his

continent, where cities and towns across sev-

eral nations are running dry. “I promise you,

the water situation in some parts of Africa is

getting worse all the time. It’s certainly not

getting better,” he says. “Twenty or 30 years

from now, I think towing icebergs will be a

regular thing.” <BW>

Bloomberg Businessweek | Sooner Than You Think June 10, 2019

Orheim has been

atop more bergs

than perhaps anyone

on Earth.

Mougin began studying

iceberg transport in

the 1970s.

LEFT FROM TOP: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & ARCHIVES, UC SAN DIEGO. RANDY OLSON/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION. IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES. FAIRCHILD ARCHIVE/PENSKE MEDIA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK. PONOPRESSE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK. RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHS BY THOMAS CHÉNÉ FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK (2)

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