Icebergs could pose threat

Icebergs spotted floating towards Stewart Island could sink cargo ships and disrupt shipping routes.

The icebergs were apparently spotted about 50km off Stewart Island on Monday, but that sighting turned out to be just a floating reef, creating uncertainty about the iceberg's travel route.

Environment Southland harbourmaster Kevin O'Sullivan said the icebergs had the potential to sink cargo ships.

Pacific Shipping Agencies owner Tom Sawyer agreed and said while icebergs might be small they could still weigh a couple of hundred tonnes, posing threats to ships travelling from Bluff and up the east coast.

What one iceberg would do to a ship was unknown, but it could cause a scratch in the paint or a hole in the boat, he said.

"It's like hitting a whale or floating container, so you try to avoid them."

Heritage Expeditions owner Rodney Russ was the first to see the large chunks of ice earlier this month as he passed the Auckland Islands.

His son Nathan said the icebergs appeared to be breaking up in the warmer waters and that possibility poses more danger because they are in smaller pieces.

The smaller pieces were not picked up by boat radar so if the weather turned bad and fog engulfed the icebergs, there would be no way to spot them, he said.

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research oceanographer Mike Williams, said he was not sure where the icebergs were, but predicted they were 240km away and moving about 25km a day.

At that speed the icebergs would be close to New Zealand within about nine days, putting them in the line of cargo ships going to and from Bluff.

The direction in which the icebergs travel depends on weather conditions and they could be pushed away from New Zealand with a change in wind direction, meaning they may pass undetected.

Maritime New Zealand is warning all boaties to keep an eye out for the icebergs but, according to Mr Sawyer, by the time they get here there might "only be enough to put in your gin and tonic".

scot.mackay@stl.co.nz

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Doug Griffith   #2   11:44 pm Nov 26 2009

I would be more concerned about floating reefs than icebergs at the moment

Ed Kirby   #1   09:17 am Nov 26 2009

We see lots of icebergs here in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in spring. There's been an iceberg watch in the North Atlantic since Titanc sank in 1912 after it hit a berg, and today the watch is carried out by by aircraft and satellite. A boat hitting a berg is like a boat hitting a rock, so I was amused by Mr. Sawyer's comment. Smaller bergs may not be picked up by radar, making them potentially more dangerous than big ones, which are easy to spot. Check here for a neat video of an iceberg collapsing: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1017579278343 and the website http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com has a Facebook page with other iceberg videos.

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