"Eager to cash in on the box office success of the Titanic film"???

They can't be that eager.. the film was released in 1997!

And in re: The Iceberg... I stand by my previous comments

Yes indeed, more needs to be done, such as the Tourist Board offices opening at times when tourists might want to access these and avail of the information and facilities on offer.

isn't it sad/funny/curious/ironic (take your pick) that one of the few things we can 'celebrate' and develop as a theme park is one of the biggest maritime disasters in modern history......

Rita Duffy is an artist who likes to promote herself with daft way out 'preformance art' ideas. This one would just be impossible to carry out. By the time any iceberg would ever drift (or be towed) near the latitude of the shetland islands it would have melted. The sea is too warm around our islands to ever even see icebergs

La Dolorossa, the ship was fine when it left Belfast. I think it's perfectly legitimate to celebrate the achievement it represented - neither sad / ironic/ funny blah blah

Northern FF - I just think that there's something unfortunately symbolic/metaphorical about it..... (thinking in a wider context) and I normally consider myself an optimist......

Its a wonder Rita Duffy never did a bit of research on icebergs before she made her way out daft proposal to bring an iceberg to Belfast. The story might go down well in one of potters books but in real life its not possible.

"In order for an iceberg to reach the North Atlantic the currents typically take it from Baffin Bay through the Davis Strait and Labrador Sea. This is a long trip and most icebergs never make it. Most icebergs melt well before entering the Atlantic Ocean. One estimate is that of the 15,000 to 30,000 icebergs produced annually by the glaciers of Greenland only one percent (150 to 300) ever make it to the Atlantic Ocean. When an iceberg does happen to reach the Atlantic its long and traveled life quickly comes to an end melting rapidly in the warm waters.
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0781668.html

Northern FF, the ship had the major design flaw that sank it when it left Belfast.

Being the origin of the world's most famous shit ship is nothing to be proud of IMO.

George, without wanting to state the obvious, icebergs will melt before reaching the atlantic in normal circumstances if left to float around by themselves. However, when attached to a fast ship, the time taken to reach the atlantic (and belfast) would be reduced, reducing the chance of the iceberg melting before reaching the destination. Ms Duffy isn't going to wait for one to waft down by itself.

" Ms Duffy isn't going to wait for one to waft down by itself."

Fraggle,

Can you tell us all how she is going to tow it?
Do you not think Ms Duffy should have checked out first to see if Icebergs can be towed before she made a proposal for such a crazy project?

"For the moment, then, even if some still maybe believe in one or other of these crazy projects, scientists and financiers are unanimous in their admission that an operation of this kind will certainly never see the light of day."

http://www.antarctica.org/UK/Envirn/pag/glaces_UK/oceanes_UK/remorquer_UK.htm

A fantastic misquote there George. That site you linked was talking about the supply of drinking water on an ongoing basis, not a one-off stunt.

When the ice-berg turns up, will you be facing the opposite direction with your arms folded saying that it can't possibly be there?

George2

The iceberg will not melt that fast that it matters.

The plan is to tow the iceberg with an oceangoing tug, the sort that drag dud supertankers away from rocks. It will make a few knots, enough to get it here in days rather than months.

It will be slightly smaller when it gets here, sure, but Rita will just have to look for size extra large.

The real problem will be to get it anyway close to Belfast, which is approached by a dredged channel through relatively shallow water. It would probably have to be anchored some way off Bangor.

The real problem will be to stop the toffs in North Down turning up in their yachts to break bits off for novelty cocktail ice cubes.

Sectarianism on the rocks, anyone?

Fraggle,

It dosn't matter what stunt, you try to do with icebergs, this article is evidence that icebergs cannot be towed right across oceans. The only time an icebergs course is redirected is when it becomes a hazard to shipping or is drifting towards an oil platform.

If you cannot provide evidence to the contrary then you are as much a looper as is Ms Duffy

This is wonderful stuff. Should we have the iceberg in chains. I approve of the villians being brought to book, but in this case it would be the sins of the fathers visited on a innocent iceberg!

George2

At war with the laws of physics now?

I'm not saying you are a looper
Maybe you just inhabit a parallel universe with a different set of rules

isn't it sad/funny/curious/ironic (take your pick) that one of the few things we can 'celebrate' and develop as a theme park is one of the biggest maritime disasters in modern history......

Famine theme park in Ireland and in a mocked up piece of "Famine Ireland" in the USA ?

George2

At war with the laws of physics now?

No aquifer, just having a general knowledge regards the laws of seawater circulation in the seas around the part of the world. we live in.to know an iceberg would melt away like Ms Duffy's loopy idea before it ever got near Ireland.

See coloured map:

http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/chapter13/chapter13_01.htm