HIJACKING an ICEBERG

Cape Town is one of South Africa’s largest cities and desperately needs fresh water. In 2018, after three years of severe drought, the city of four million was at risk of becoming the first in the world to run out of municipal water. Severe restrictions were introduced.

Thanks to recent rains, these have now been eased – slightly – with limits increased from 50 to 70 litres per person per day. Still, the shortages have savaged the region’s economy, particularly the tourism and agricultural sectors. Crops and livestock numbers have been radically reduced, and an estimated 30,000 seasonal jobs have been lost. No one believes the drought was a one-off.

South African Nick Sloane – a 56-year-old professional marine salvage master