Dubai’s wild plan to tow an iceberg from Antarctica almost became real life

The Dubai iceberg project might be the city’s most audacious idea yet. 

This is a city that has already built indoor ski slopes and an island shaped like a palm tree, so when someone suggested towing a real iceberg from Antarctica, it somehow didn’t sound impossible.

In 2017, a bold plan emerged: tow a massive iceberg all the way from Antarctica to the UAE. Picture it – tugboats hauling a floating mountain of ice across the ocean to the desert.

And for a brief moment, it seemed like they might actually do it.

VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie

The Dubai iceberg project that almost happened

The brain behind it was Abdulla Alshehi. 

He looked at the UAE’s water problem – bone‑dry land, growing population, endless desalination plants – and decided to aim colder, not bigger.

The pitch was simple, and also not simple at all – take a chunk of ancient Antarctic ice, tow it 5,000 miles to Fujairah, and let the desert sun do the work. 

As it melted, you’d filter the water and quench the thirst of a desert city. 

He even talked about a mini‑test off South Africa first.

However, Abdulla learned that icebergs don’t care about your plans. They crack, they flip, they disappear in warm water like an ice cube in a hot tub. 

Engineers warned that even with protective skirts to slow melting, the ocean would chew it apart before it got anywhere close.

Then came the price tag – hundreds of millions for a single tow.

And if that weren’t enough to put a stop to things, the ‘eco‑friendly’ pitch started to fall apart soon after – to tow an iceberg across the tropics would take diesel‑burning tugboats pumping out emissions the whole way.

By the early 2020s, the hype had cooled off, and the plan to tow an iceberg just faded from conversation.

Chunks of Greenland glacier for your cocktail

Dubai didn’t give up on polar ice entirely, though. It just went smaller. Way smaller.

While they couldn’t tow an iceberg, they could fly in little chunks of Greenland glacier for luxury bars. 

Wealthy folks were nursing cocktails cooled by ice older than human history – a move that drew plenty of attention… and some criticism.

The Dubai iceberg project may have melted away, but it left behind a story as bold as the city that dreamed it up.

Click the star icon next to supercarblondie.com in Google Search to stay ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest supercars, hypercars, and ground-breaking technology.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie