Written by Andrew Sambidge

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UAE company behind ambitious icebergs project wins patent from the UK

National Advisor Bureau Limited seeks to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the Fujairah coast as new sources of fresh water in the region

Written by Andrew Sambidge
The test will cost around $60-80 million while the full project to tow an iceberg to the UAE will cost $100-150 million.

The UAE-based company behind plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the Fujairah coast has announced that the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has patented its Iceberg Reservoirs invention

On the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai, the founer of the National Advisor Bureau Limited said the patent marks a significant development for its UAE Iceberg Project, which aims to change the map of water distribution around the world.

The patent has been granted to Emirati inventor Abdulla Alshehhi, founder of the UAE Iceberg project, which will boost investor confidence in the concept’s technical and economic feasibility.

Alshehhi said: “For 170 years, World Expos have served as an important platform to showcase the latest innovations that have shaped the world that we live in today… Expo 2020 Dubai will most certainly continue this legacy, and history will mark that it has helped to solve water scarcity, one of humanity’s most pressing issues, with the Iceberg Project.”

He said several agreements have been signed with companies and scientific institutions around the world since the UAE Iceberg project was first announced a few years ago, which plans to leverage icebergs as new sources of fresh water in the region.

National Advisor Bureau Limited is run by Abdulla Alshehhi, also the author of Filling the Empty Quarter and a speaker at local and international conferences.
Moreover, having icebergs off the coasts of the UAE will become a massive and unique tourist attraction, said Alshehhi.

National Advisor Bureau Limited is run by Abdulla Alshehhi, also the author of Filling the Empty Quarter and a speaker at local and international conferences.

The company is reportedly looking to raise $9 million in the first round of funding for the project which will use technology to tow the icebergs to the coasts of the UAE.

The technology includes flexible, heat-insulated, and cost-effective reservoirs, leveraging renewable energy to prevent the ice from melting throughout the towing process.

National Advisor Bureau Limited is run by Alshehhi, also the author of Filling the Empty Quarter and a speaker at local and international conferences.

In 2017 in an interview with Euronews Inspire Middle East TV show, Alshehhi said: “It will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs and utilise them for freshwater rather than utilising the desalination water because desalination plants require a huge amount of capital investments.”

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