Giant iceberg on the move
2005-06-03 14:17
Sydney - An iceberg more than twice the size of Malta has broken adrift near Australia's Casey station in Antarctica, officials said on Friday.
The iceberg, known as B15G, ran aground at Vincennes Bay at Casey on April 28 after breaking away from a larger iceberg on the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000.
Casey station leader Jeremy Smith said he and his 13 colleagues had become accustomed to seeing the 788 square kilometre iceberg on their horizon.
"We came to view the iceberg with some affection. Our frozen sea view, though still littered with small icebergs, seems empty now," he told the Australian Associated Press.
Personnel at Casey had noticed B15G shift in recent weeks, pirouetting from its north-south position to east-west.
Overnight satellite images confirmed the iceberg's movement, AAP said.
Before coming to rest off Casey, B15G had drifted more than 1 000 kilometres.