Ocean Caravan

 
A caravan of vessels was heading northward towards the Indian Ocean. Six ocean tugboats were hauling a 13 million ton iceberg cut from the Antarctic ice sheet. The initial cost of the harnessed ice mass with the equipment on it was estimated at 120 million dollars.
In the lead of the caravan was an ocean rescue tug leading the caravan along the calculated route in a pilotless mode using surface currents. They started in the Ross Sea and the finish line was at the deep-water berth of the Ice Water Plant at the West Coast of Tasmania.
At an average speed of two knots the voyage would take thirty-seven days, fiKeen of them among floating ice rocks. All the tugs were ice-class vessels, but they had to bypass floating ice and icebergs, and it would take a lot of time and sweat to slow down and turn the massive cargo around, so, there was an escort icebreaker ready to help in complicated ice conditions. And in clear water, beyond the floating ice zone, regular air and underwater reconnaissance drones would be handy scanning the route sector ahead around the clock.
Ocean tugs designed in 2037 and in 2045 with a displacement of 5300 and 5500 tons and with the draw on the hook of 500 and 550 tons respectively are equipped with double winches with dynamic and magnetic automatic brakes, a hybrid drive, a turbine with a modified ethanol generator and batteries. They have a 30MW power plant, and their cruising range is 15 thousand miles.
The smart spatial positioning and control center ensures an unmanned round-the- world tour; a couple of refuelings would only be needed to freshen up energy supplies and get provisions for the crew. AKer the first space flights, many dreamed of using concentrated food in tubes in the future. Now the market can offer pastes, gels, powders and nutrition mixes for human consumption, but a veal steak, Dutch cheese, fresh vegetables and fruit would always be a priority. And fish, of course, as well.
The crew of the leader tug consisted of nine members plus four medical people. It also carried a heavy helicopter. Each tug was manned with three navigators, an IT pro and a light quadcopter pilot. Living conditions were comfortable enough for a long-distance voyage, yet, in windy weather shakes and jerks were something crazy. Although the winch automation partially dampens the jerks, in rough sea you’d beQer drink coffee from a closed glass through a straw.
On the sixth day of the auto-controlled journey the navigator-captain Raury is on duty. An autopilot is OK, but man is man. On any ship, it is the captain who takes the decision in a non-routine situation. And all insurance companies only recognize the captain. Courts never consider actions of artificial intelligence, programs or robots.
Eight people are gradually gathering in the mess room - cult quarters on all ships. It is evening now, according to Canberra time. The crew are bored and tired, they certainly could do with a little feast. Not that they want adventures - those would emerge and as badly-timed as could be imagined.
The ship can boast of everything the best Sydney houses have: individual roomy cabins, a coffee-bar with a coffee machine, separate tables and a common table. There is even a fully equipped kitchen – the crew members can cook a variety of dishes from individually ordered products. There is a gym, a sauna, individual exercise equipment, a pool, billiards, as well as professional car and boat simulators. But there is no beer, no wine, and no cigarettes; as for non-alcoholic beer and wine no one ever cared to ordered them, as a maQer of principle!
Nobody knows who, where and when introduced a custom that each crew member could announce and cook homemade food according to their own recipes. Today, behind the kitchen table is Sophie, an anesthesiologist and surgeon. She comes from Perth and is Australian of German descent. Sophie is a good athlete nicknamed Blond Beast by the crew. The day before the crew persuaded her to cook pork sausages with stewed sauerkraut, a national German dish, which she is busy making at the moment.
Voices and laughter distracted Sophie’s attention from her cooking – the polar pilots were recalling funny job incidents. She also had stories to tell. But that would be later.
Lucas and Inge had worked in the Norwegian Sea. But companies began to cut oil production, suspend the wells and reduce staff. They have worked in the North Sea, in the Arctic, in the Persian Gulf area, and it was their twelKh year in Antarctic. Together they have flown heavy assembly helicopters for


 27 years. Lucas is the first pilot, and Inge is the erection pilot. The work is very complicated and requires exacting precision.
On the shore, the helicopter hovers over a block of structures with expensive equipment and the slings are attached to the hook. Then Lucas flies to the placorm and hovers over it, while Inge in the pilot's seat above the open floor hatch takes control. Her mission is to land the multi-ton structure onto the mounting bolts and hold it still until it is completely secured. Such experts were few and far between and their work is very well paid. They like Australia, especially Tasmania. Their children have grown up, they live their own lives, and the parents want to buy a house in Tasmania. When they retire they would be considered local residents.
They are very fond of trout fishing and can salt trout amazingly in Norwegian stile, leaving it to macerate for one hour or for 24 hours. But such trout is not supposed to be frozen, and there is none in the ocean. Therefore, they would cook other Norwegian dishes, each one his own.
The younger boys, Shen and Eric, were in charge of the industrial robots, the assembly of structures, and the entire harnessing of the ice slab cut out of a tabular iceberg. The tow hooks were fixed at the calculated points of the ice table surface. Their design allowed them to hold a 500 ton load in the sector plus or minus 45 degrees. This allowed the six tugs to rotate the berg giving it one complete turn in situ, slowly but surely. The ice chunk weighs 13 million tons, the weight of six tugs is 33 thousand tons – just feel the difference! But harnessing and hauling the berg to the pier is half the battle, the worst piece of work is to turn it into crystal clear ice water almost completely.
And Shen and Eric with their robots performed all the preparation procedures together with harnessing. Four teams of robots and eight riggers worked on five sec=ons of the surface. But this is a separate story.
In the meantime, Shen and Eric were watching Sophie offering her some advice now and then, kidding, and in general trying to attract her attention. And it was not sausages and sauerkraut they were really aKer.
The elderly Norwegian couple chuckled and warned the young guys that the Blond Beast is a wonderful cook all right, her yummy culinary chef-d‘oeuvres give her extra credit in men’s opinion, but “Beware”, they said, “God save you from falling into her hands – she will put you to sleep and cut something off; and then you will haunt her pleading for mercy and implore her to sew it back”. The others shook with laughter, and even Leia, the psychologist, smiled, while the guys felt a little crescallen.
The navigators Paul and Max were playing billiards in the next room and the clacking of balls, exclama=ons and laughter came through the half-open door. They, too, were waiting for Sophie to ask the whole gang to partake of the sauerkraut.
Soon, Sophie cheerfully heralded that the sauerkraut was ready and requested young waiters’ help to lay the table. Paul volunteered first, took a sea-tray from Sophie, and carried it to the bridge. Traditionally, the one on watch was the first to be served. Now the first was Captain Raury Best, the navigator on duty. The next eight hours would see navigators Paul and Max on duty; they were the first and the second mate.
Eric and Shen brought in and arranged dishes, tableware, drinks and condiments. The tableware of titanium was of a well-known brand. Titanium wine glasses, thermos glasses and cups came into fashion in the third millennium. Refined, convenient, everlasting, though expensive enough, they were second to none on the Moon and at sea. Even the clinking of titanium glasses seemed warmer than the sound of glass, steel or silver.
Most likely, the small team enclosed in a confined space started the tradition of cooking homemade food on a birthday or on a holiday. It was a variety, almost a small celebration. And a celebration is always welcome - it serves as a psychological safety valve. But birthday only occur once a year, and the sought-for variety has become kind of a competition providing an occasion for discussion and conversation in anticipation of the next such dinner.
Monotonous time seems to drag on and on while days full of variety fly faster. Since ancient times, meals at sea have only differed in the range of dishes. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, aKernoon tea and supper were fitted to the 4 hour watches, physical exertion and psychological stress. Four hour periods of


 concentrated alert followed by a good rest was a routine historically determined by practice. Now the navigator's watch also lasts four hours, but it requires only concentration, without physical activity. But human system is beQer suited to regular physical work than to long stand-by periods.
The remaining six crew members have a free mode of work and sleep, but only in standard circumstances.
For Leia, a full-time psychologist and Sophie's assistant surgeon, having a meal and conversation with the entire crew with the opportunity to relax and unwind is an important part of her work. That is a working moment of truth, a psychological test for compatibility in a confined space.
And the huge ice tow 10 thousand times the mass of the tugs strains the human nerves. As for the cold endless ocean, it is no more friendly than open space. A huge ocean wave can emerge both in calm and in storm, as a violent outburst in the sun. Man is a part of Nature, and he is mortal, like everything in Nature.
Soon Paul leK to relieve the captain whose four hours of watch were over. There were still thirty days of journey ahead, if everything goes well, of course. But the weather and the weather-dependent surface currents may have their own plans.
The day faded into nighcall, the supper was over. Shen and Eric helped Sophie load everything into the recycling machine and the sterilizer. The AI and its assistants would put all the household premises back to their original order. Well, all into bed.
In Open Water
It was the fourteenth day of their voyage among floating ice and icebergs. The caravan was moving slowly with only minor deviations. The Southern Ocean with its circular current behaved calmly. The Coreolis effect generated by the Earth’s rotation in these latitudes is compensated by the speed of the current which is sufficient even for the cargo’s enormous weight. Actually, the caravan was moving in smooth zigzags bypassing the ice mountains on the leK and on the right. The difference between icebergs’ tops and underwater parts was not yet very significant.
The drones maintained permanent contact with the intelligent navigator. The lattier controlled the entire situation monitoring constantly the progress, making calculations and reporting the data to the captain. By default, the IT navigators of the other tugs obeyed its commands. In non-standard cases or when the captain chose to save time or fuel, recalculations were instantly made and the task parameters were changed for the other tugs, and they immediately adjusted their maneuvering in accordance with the new control arrangements.
The neQed ice block in the form of a square with a side of 300 meters and 200-250m thick was pulled with one angle heading forward. This technique provided good steering, minimal resistance and economy. The leader of the caravan was at the center of the corner with two tugs on the leK and two on the right. The sixth tug in charge of steering and braking was at the aft corner. This one had to work hardest while maneuvering.
By shiKing the longitudinal axis of the ice square away from the towing axis, it begins the rotation. Simultaneously, the five tugs turn the common thrust vector in the opposite direction. The water resistance helps to rotate the berg in the course of movement. But it is much more difficult to stop such rotation and resume the straight movement. Skirting an obstacle may take between several to 24 hours. It all depends on the size of such obstacle – a single iceberg or a cluster of floating ice. The whole maneuver brings about significant reduction in traveling speed, additional fuel consumption, increased distance and extra psychological stress.
Today they have cоme across what seems to be the last cracked iceberg before open water. It will take another 12 to 14 hours. According to the initial forecast, they should have passed the floating ice area by now. But due to the bypass they were almost 24 hours behind schedule. They haven’t had any nasty incidents so far and this is good news. Besides, they have performed this sinusoidal bypass without a hitch, though the operation took fourteen extra hours and increased their route by 18 miles, bringing them to the open water on the fifteenth of February instead of the scheduled fourteenth.
Visually and according to the drones, the horizon in the north is clear of ice, but the captain knows that there may still be lonely ice rovers in this part of the ocean. In fact, icebergs that calved from the Ross Ice Shelf were tracked as far north as 900 miles off the Australian coast. Usually they last 2 to 3


 years before melting, but some remain afloat for about ten years. Thus, a large B7B iceberg measuring 19 by 8 kilometers was driKing 10 years in the waters of the Indian Ocean. It was last recorded by a satellite at a point of 48 S, 107 E. Surely it had crossed their route, and perhaps more than once in such a long time. And now in the South and Indian Oceans there are much more freely drifting icebergs than 20 years ago. Antarctica is shedding more and more ice, and the process has been picking up speed in the 21st century.
Eric had announced his own version of a "Swedish" dinner for the whole crew on February 14th. It should be noted that "buffet service" is sometimes called "Swedish dinner", which has nothing to do with Sweden. It is a customer service technique invented by French restaurateurs. The name's origin is obscure.
Eric is a light helicopter pilot originally from Brisbane. He served in the AIF under contract. He is an experienced top-notch pilot. Such guys of a calm and restrained nature are much appreciated by ladies, but he is not married. He had prepared everything for dinner in advance, even a "valentine", a holiday card with a poem for Valentine's Day, as is customary in Sweden, where February 14th is a holiday, mostly for students and schoolchildren and is called All Hearts’ Day. During his studies he used to put such valentines in girls’ books. Now his dinner had to be shiKed to February 15th, and the postcard was overdue.
Swedish cuisine is simple, nutrient dense, peasant-style. Even festive meals are simple. Cold climate, cold sea, northern mountains and forests imply fat food: fish, seafood, meat. Some vegetables, mostly potatoes, and wild northern berries. Vegetarians have never abounded in these parts.
Centuries ago, pagan tribes living on the shores of the present Barents Sea made preservations that could sustain them through long winters that last ten months. Summer is short, only two months, and one needs to eat the whole year round. Local population made preserves of salted fish and seafood, root vegetables and sauerkraut, smoked meat, soused mushrooms and northern berries. Salt was expensive and scarce.
Canned fermented Baltic herring Surstr;mming is a Swedish national delicacy. In the 16th century, King Gustav I Vasa waged a war against a German city on the Baltic Sea. There was not enough salt, and he issued an order for herring to be fermented in barrels. Since then, not only Swedes have been enjoying this product. Tourists specially travel to Stockholm to buy a tin and eat it on the spot, because more than thirty years ago all airlines flying to Stockholm banned the product on the grounds that the pressurized tins could explode on board.
A couple of hours before the dinner Eric occupied the kitchen. He made Swedish meatballs from mixed meat, boiled potatoes in their jackets and made a sauce of boiled lingonberries with sugar and starch. That was Swedish festive meal characteristic of the New Year Eve. The second course was Glasmastarsil - glazier's herring - salted herring fillet with vegetables in a lidded glass dish. And to cap it all, a dessert – a fruit drink made from wild northern berries and sugar.
The aroma of fried meatballs, delicious and unusual for southern cuisine, tickled the nostrils and drew the whole gang into the mess room in a jiffy. Only Paul, the first navigator, remained on the bridge. Sophie and Leia offered Eric their assistance. They laid the table with ten large dishes with meatballs, boiled potatoes and lingonberry sauce.
“Why ten dishes? There are nine of us.” Shen asked. Eric smiled.
"Just in case that someone will want a second helping."
The glazier's dish - a closed snack - was already on the table, as well as the fruit drink in thermo
glasses. Max took the container with Paul's dinner to the bridge. Eric was the last to sit down. Raury and Lucas, siung side by side, ate slowly. Inge and Sophie nibbled at the meatballs and talked. Eric couldn't understand what they were talking about. Max parked next to Eric with Shen on the other side. Leia, as always, was siung alone observing everyone. Eric was wondering what they thought of his cooking, he looked at Sophie, but she remained silent. Leia said only, "The meatballs are very delicious, really yummy."
Ingre asked, "Eric, what about that notorious national treat?"
Eric felt a little baffled not knowing what to say. Everyone laughed, and the captain said,
"There are no explosives on board!" Loud laughter again.



The dinner was a success and the extra platter was soon empty.
Captain Raury Best, like many of his ancestors, was born in Strahan, a small town on the west coast of Tasmania. He liked an unhurried lifestyle in this place at the back of beyond. He was speaking with Lucas who had already become a resident of Tasmania. Raury had lived there since his childhood, he knew the island and its nature, a lot of residents, their characters and background. It was there that he went to school and college, and then became an expert sea captain. He had seen Asia, Europe, America and Africa with his own eyes. He had seen both clean beautiful cities and harbors, and also garbage dumps in cities and on the seashore, and islands of garbage floating in the oceans.
He also knew the environmental problems of his native island. It would take a long time to reclaim and restore what was leK and abandoned by mining and construction companies from the past centuries. And even the most advanced and eco- friendly technologies are not absolutely “green”. They, too, leave "dirty" footprints that must be eliminated straight away.
Most people view electricity as “noble” absolutely pure energy. And many do not even think about how we get it. Not only in the 20th century electricity was generated by burning coal, oil, gas, using nuclear fuel and hydraulic reservoirs. And now in the 21st century electricity is mostly produced using fossil mineral resources.
The turn of the 20th century saw the advancement of pilot industrial parks of wind generators, solar photovoltaic panels, and tidal power plants. Today, these electricity generating technologies are rapidly gaining momentum. And some politicians declare that they will switch entirely to this clean energy by a certain date. Raury Best knows very well that the sun does not shine always everywhere, and the wind chooses to blow at will. But it is very difficult to find a politician who has crossed the ocean on a ship, and not once, but several times.
The benefits of electricity from the power grid are the same for the consumer, the cost varies with the manufacturer, and the environmental damage is calculated in different ways. For example, who owns oxygen on the planet? Nobody. And the water in the oceans and seas, along with the fish? No one. And the atmosphere? No one either. Then why should we take into account the damage that is done to them? We make money first and foremost, saving on whatever we can, and only concern ourselves with environment in the face of a lawsuit threat. Engineers and ecologists realize that electric power generation cannot be absolutely eco-friendly, just as there is no perpetual motion machine. And when politicians promise to generate only “green” power, it is clearly a sham, but a lot of people swallow the bait. If politicians promised to reduce environmental damage by at least 10 percent in five years and kept their promise life would be different.
All known and future technologies for electric power generation are always a compromise between the consumers’ good and harm to the environment. Economists always estimate the difference in terms of money - profitable or unprofitable. Moreover, the value of money always decreases overtime, while the value of living conditions always grows. For that reason, technologically advanced countries began to transfer environmentally dirty technologies to developing countries. The air and water are free for the taking, so why not? But when even those poorer countries pulled the plug, they began to build and save at home. This contradiction triggered the "green" movement in Tasmania in the early 70s of the last century. And as time has shown, the effort was not wasted. Fifty years later, in 2020, the territory of Tasmania was recognized as the cleanest in the world.
But that does not mean that we have already responded to all environmental challenges. Let’s take a look at Queenstown region. Left by our ancestors as a legacy it has cost dearly to their great- grandchildren. The local mines supplied gold and copper for Europe before being depleted, and then the territory, pitted and contaminated in a most barbaric manner, was abandoned. It took about 11 years and AUS  1.7 billion to fully restore and reclaim the area. The works included conservation of a small burial ground in a former quarry.
On the other hand, Oceania and Southeast Asia have now one of the best centers for natural recreation, sports and tourism. And clean forest air, mountain water and relict forests of Tasmania are really priceless. The State Forestry Company of Tasmania cares for and maintains the entire forest resources of the island. The Queenstown forest is still young and requires special care. In old forests, the company carries out systematic cleanings, removes fallen dead trees and cuts selected mature wood,


 plants saplings. Unfortunately, our planet's climate is deteriorating, especially for large mammals. The garbage is mainly produced in the northern hemisphere, but the southern one has more than enough, too. After all, we have a common roof.
Raury paused, then went on, “By and large, humanity managed to inflict tremendous damage on biological life by the early 21st century. We have polluted the atmosphere, fresh and salt water, fertile lands cuung down and burning ancient forests in a most barbaric manner, draining swamps and damming up rivers. Huge bare spaces parched by the sun convey the heat to the atmosphere, while plants might convert solar energy into green biomass.
Many of us have forgotten or have never known that the green leaf also breathes. At night it consumes oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. But in the daytime in the course of photosynthesis it assimilates more carbon dioxide and produces much more oxygen than it consumes at night. On the other hand, each burned organic molecule releases four molecules of hot water and steam into the atmosphere, which is four times more than carbon dioxide amount. Just calculate the mass of water and the amount of heat additionally released into the atmosphere over the last 50 to 70 years.
Air and water have been poisoned and the temperature has climbed up – our planet is seriously ill. It is fighting with its ailments trying to throw off parasites with air, water and fire, to cleanse itself.
Now let’s look at the garbage issue. Disposable plastic products are pressed by hundreds of billions, trash production is growing exponentially; the primary target is to sell, and let the chips fall where they may. And the “chips” fall everywhere. Look at the growing mountains of debris and lifeless bald saline soils. And meanwhile new unknown life is germinating in garbage dumps in oceans and on land, when bacteria undergo mutation trying to adjust to new environment. And the new environment offers a huge variety of polymeric biological and combined materials and this medium can give rise to new mutations of polymer-organic nature. Few people think about it ...
Politicians now have political advisors who earn money by bringing the customer direct to the yearned for elective seat. Just business, nothing more. After the most popular topic is chosen the puppet politician harps on it again and again at public meetings. Lavish with promises and deaf to the feedback, and the venal media is always handy to brainwash the voters, for their money, too. Nothing personal, just business.
Doctors warned that we cannot live awash in trash, it is fraught with worldwide infection and pandemics! Nobody heard that either. Scientists warned that hundreds of thousands of artificial materials in huge landfills can corrupt the planet’s biology. Foreign molecular groups may build into living organisms. One in ten synthetic materials is toxic and one in one hundred is poisonous. And there are over four hundred thousand of them around. Besides, scientists publish their articles in specialized journals of scanty circulation. And no one except their ilk reads these clever articles in their baffling scientific language. And so, the pandemic came quite out of the blue for the powerful America and the great China.
In three years, the pandemic was almost dealt with, only isolated latent sites remained in poorer countries. If those are not purged the killer germs will lie low for a while lurking in the trash and wait in the wings. Whether we want it or not, we’ll have to collaborate to save our planet from debris and infection. There are no other options. Of course, no one will discourage those who want to fly to Mars, but it is no longer possible to live awash in garbage and continue to produce it.
The world has changed in the public perception, at least for people with brains. Man is a guest on this planet. We can survive for three minutes without oxygen; for three days without water; thirty days without food. We can live for years without money. The true masters of our planet, its first settlers, are microorganisms and fungi. They can live without oxygen or nutrition, in heat and in ice. But without water they sleep in suspended animation. Water is crucial for biological life. Many have already realized that human civilization must change its development vector, we must restore the ecosystem of organic life on our planet.
What immediately comes to mind is the lifestyle of aboriginal tribes. They have no contradictions with the surrounding biosphere, so they will survive under any circumstances.”
Lucas was listening without interrupting.
Eric poured each of them a second glass of fruit drink and began tidying up the kitchen.
Raury continued.
“Probably the government of Tasmania had heard the “greens” long before the pandemic began.
After two years of pandemic they decided to set up a fresh water consortium in cooperation with the


 Gulf countries’ governments. Huge volumes of sea water desalinated by the Arabia countries increased the brine concentration in the seas and bays. The cost of seawater desalination is growing. Water is becoming more and more expensive and marine life is dying. The Gulf Coast countries joined the Tasmania consortium.
As a result, by the end of 2026, the first phase of the Tasmanian Mountain Water project was launched on the northwestern coast of Tasmania. It yields 18 million cubic meters of pure water per year in glass containers and 120 million cubic meters to be pumped into bulk tankers. There are two reservoirs in the mountains with a minimum level of desalinated water of 200 and 80 million cubic meters, and a hydro-accumulating reservoir for 120 million cubic meters. The plant has its own 2 GW wind generator park and desalination plants producing 600 thousand m3 / day. The second stage was launched in 2028 doubling the production and water exports.
And we, Lucas, are bringing our valuable cargo to the deep-sea floating berths of the third stage plant. I promise you a full tour of this facility. There is no other like it on the whole globe. I used to work on the construction of the first stage. Then I navigated tankers to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. At sea I am at home, while on the shore I’m just visiting, kind of a holiday-maker.”
Ice Pier
It was the thirty-eighth day of their journey. Early in the morning at a distance of three miles from the dock the caravan slowed down to one knot. The underwater drones checked the speed and direction of the local currents along the entire route to the anchorage. Before the anchorage when the depth was still over 300 meters the ice- mass had to be turned by 90 degrees, then brought to the prepared platform, gently stopped and moored above it.
All the six tugs controlled by the auto- navigator turned the berg and held it in the center of the anchorage. The harbor tugs carrying anchors set to work like a team of ants. Each of the six towing hooks was soon equipped with two 40 ton anchors. They were secured as directed by the smart navigator in charge of the whole process.
The operation was unfolding like in a silent movie.
A light gust of breeze pressed on the berg's surface with a force of a hundred tons. The captain- navigators watched silently. The importance of this final procedure kept then on edge.
Well, at last the sailors' work is over. Now a special squad will take over and install floating docks, equipment, pipelines, do the unwrapping and begin to harvest ice water. It is a routine job for them, in fact, they unwrap 12 to 14 floes yearly, remove all the harness and equipment and prepare them for the next mission.
Turning ice into a steady water flow is the technologists' job. A powerful computer controls the water flows, the rate and shape of the ice surface change, the temperature and volume of the heat- conducting medium. Several hundred points with a dozen dynamic parameters are controlled online by the artificial intelligence. But aKer all, the huge memory, all the calculations and operations are designed and improved by man.
The tugs that have just arrived leave for their berth to be serviced and prepared for a new voyage, and the crews go ashore for a 30 day holiday before the next voyage to get the next iceberg. They will leave for Antarctica on the tugs of the second caravan, while their tugs will be manned by the third caravan crews - this rotational method is used for towing icebergs.
It could be called the Great Ice-Water Road, by analogy with the Great Silk Road of antiquity. The ancient people would never have believed that in the future caravans would carry water instead of silk from one country to another. But then again, on their way through deserts they learnt to appreciate the value of water.
Everyone have their own plans for the month-off. Raury and Lucas agreed to get in touch. A couple of days later they met on the parking lot near the office block of the industrial complex. Lucas and Inge still lived in the company’s residential area, about a kilometer walk from the parking lot down a green alley.


 After the first stage of the complex was finished Raury became employed as a mechanic on water tankers. The sea was his element; it gave him strength and vitality. His income grew, and now he had some free time between voyages. He bought a house in the town of Zeehan in Main Street, near the Heemskirk Motor Hotel with a stadium nearby. He pulled down the old house and built another one the way he had dreamed of in his childhood back in Strahan. He chose a place approximately halfway between Strahan and Trial Harbor. Henty Road – the road from the past and Trial Harbor Road – the road to the future. And he took it driving along the ocean to meet Lucas at the plant.
Private cars in Tasmania are mostly hybrid-drive vehicles fueled by carbon- catalyzed modified ethanol. The battery-driven transport is only used for urban traffic and utility vehicles. Nobody destroyed the automobile infrastructure, only some of the equipment has been modified. Accordingly, electric stations have been added to the gas station structure. Such solution is eco-friendly, economical and affordable for the entire population. Hydrogen fuel is safe in the form of a hydrogen hydrate paste, bit it is still expensive and is suitable for limited use. Therefore, Raury's car is odorless – the emission consists of water vapor and the exhaust pipe is equipped with a replaceable carbon catalyst filter.
The autopilot drove the car noiselessly down the hilly road and pulled over into the parking lot coming to a stop at Raury's favorite place. Does he remember everything, this autopilot, or is it already a habit? Raury loves to drive himself, he has a sports buggy standing under an awning in his yard, and there is a sports cross track not far from his house.
Geung out of the car Raury saw Lucas and Inge. They came up and greeted him. Inge smiled and said, “You know, I’m of age to have a beer with you, and I also want to see the ocean and the plant complex from the tower. We have decided to settle down here, so I’m curious to see everything. After we move in our own house and we’ll be able to travel four times a year. Australia is large, exciting and not like everywhere else. We already know that.”
In the lobby of the complex's museum they were greeted by an android with the appearance of a cute gray kangaroo. He asked in a girlish voice how they wished to see the museum's exposition: plain- vanilla in detail on the displays, traveling in a time machine with a guide, or would they prefer the operating model? What language would they prefer: the same for everyone or different?
Raury who knew the museum well suggested, “Let's see the operating layout like Gullivers, in English. Then we might look at the historic event of commissioning the first stage. It will take about an hour. After that we’ll go up to the viewing deck in the high part of the building – there’s a wonderful panoramic view of the landscape and facilities, excellent optics. There we’ll feel like Lilliputians in Gullivers’ Land.”
The entire miniature model looked like a real one in the Land of Lilliput: everything worked, breathed and moved. Although they all realized that laser holography can represent anything – it’s a show.
They also watched the launching ceremony of the first stage followed by the rite of consecration and blessing of the facility; the latter was really awesome. God is one for all, that is undeniable. But the whole rite involving both local Aboriginal and Muslim priests looked like a meeting of two alien civilizations. A fabulous unforgeQable event! Inge recognized Raury among the people accepting the project into service.
"Raury, how old were you then? Do you like to look at yourself?"
Raury smiled.
"Twenty-seven, I was young. Much water has flown under the bridges since that time."
"How long do you intend to work before retirement, if you decide to retire?"
"I’ll have to work a couple of years more before I reach the official retirement age. But I am not going to join the pensioners' club yet. I love the sea and my job. I have four vacations a year, I make good money and I can afford a lot. My children are grown-up and successful, they have their own lives. My ex- wife and I went our separate ways a long time ago, she teaches at the Brisbane university, she loves social activities. As for myself, I do not like big cities, fuss and noise. Therefore, I am at home here, I feel one whole with our nature."


 "We, Lucas and I, have been working and living far from big cities for many years. In our younger days we used to come to Australia with our children in winter. In our parts in winter we have oodles of snow, it is dark in the daytime and we see almost no sun.
In early January of 2003 when we landed in Sydney we had to put on our sunglasses at once. We were pale, sunblocks did not help much – our faces quickly burned and the skin was peeling off. It was like visiting another planet. After a week of adaptation, we went sightseeing around Sydney. The Millennium Olympic Stadium struck us the most. Especially the looped recordings of all competitions on stadium-shaped monitors. And an amazing monument in the Aboriginal language two thousand years old with all Olympics volunteers' names engraved on it.
And how did you make yourself remembered at the plant?
Raury smiled.
“Arabian officials have very long names. Besides, all their countries are monarchies. The plaque
bears only the names of the emirates and of Tasmania. No one has been neglected and no one feels hurt by this solution. There is a commemorative plaque at the main entrance of the office block. But tourists are not greatly interested in it.”
They thanked the android for the interesting excursion and took a high-speed elevator to the viewing deck. Almost two hundred meters is a common thing.
There were no more than twenty people, mostly from the South-East Asia.
Rory explained.
“A lot has changed over the past twenty years. The long-term coronavirus pandemic of the early
twenties with numerous mutations contributed a great deal to a grave economic, material and moral damage done to the whole humanity. It was sort of a biological warfare when all the countries and nations were affected and many people died. Not only from the killer virus, but from hunger and ferocious climatic disasters. The entire planet shuddered, as if clearing itself of filth and infection.“
The greatest losses and economic damage fell on the industrialized economies of Europe and America. Developing and resource-based countries slowed down their growth rate, but their losses were less tangible. Economically backward countries and nations lost nothing, they had nothing to lose. They might not even notice the decline of the weaker part of the population.
The requirements for the economic exchange equivalent changed. Everyone began to realize that money means gold, food, water, energy, goods and raw materials. The autude towards various securities changed dramatically. At the onset of the pandemic financial instruments were seriously undermined by some states who took away quarantine masks from the weaker countries that bought them for their population.
The second blow was struck later when overall vaccination was launched. Contracts and prepayment for the vaccine were pushed into the background according to the principle: "We do not have enough vaccine for ourselves; so first for home use, and then someday you'll receive he vaccine, too." These actions devalued all securities, changed the outlook of the active part of the world's population. Nobody believed in promises anymore; now the principle Everyone for Himself ruled.
And the world began to change in accordance with the altered worldview. The winners were Asia and Oceania, the monarchy states with a solvent market of their own relying on their own people. Therefore, now most of our tourists come from Asia and Oceania. There are many Chinese and Indians, but very few Europeans.”
They went to the northern sector of the viewing deck and Raury continued,
"You have seen the working model feeling like giants, now you can see the real fresh water plant and you will realize how enormous it is. On the right over there lies a modern little town in the forest next to
the ocean - less than a kilometer from the beach. The town is 30-100 meters higher and the ocean view is excellent everywhere. Where did you choose your house to be?"
Lucas answered,
"We are still thinking. This place is for young people starting their way in life. We want to live in a quiet place with good neighbors close to a good forest, near a mountain river with trout."


 “Then you should first see the town of Zeehan where I am living. The place is good, but I am not a very quiet neighbor, though.”
Raury continued the tour.
“Here, on the complex premises there are two desalination plants which supply 300 thousand m3 of
fresh water per day to the reservoir. See those two big green roofs? The green rooftop park is not only a decoration; it is also an effective heat exchange regulator. Below, on the shore, there is a water intake and a pumping station. Every day it supplies 900 thousand m3 of ocean water to be desalinated at the two plants. There, 600 thousand m3 of fresh water are taken through molecular membranes and the remaining 300 thousand m3 of salt water are sent back to the ocean.
To the east of us you can see two reservoirs. On the leK is a 220 million m3 storage for desalinated and rain water. Two kilometers further there is another one, 107 meters higher than the first one. It is an additional reservoir of desalinated water with a storage capacity of about 200 million m3 . We cannot see it, its water level is higher than our deck. And on the right is the third reserve reservoir of ice water, holding about 100 million m3 .
Slightly to the left you can see tanker berths. Up to 10 tankers can take 200 thousand m3 of fresh water here at the same time. Tankers work like shuQles. Water is withdrawn from the reservoir and delivered to the Persian Gulf. At the pier, the water is pumped directly into the city's water supply network. Then they take on 200 thousand m3 of salt water and return. Salt water is discharged into the Indian Ocean, before entering the port of the complex. Then again they withdraw fresh water and so on.
Let me explain. The Persian Gulf bottom contains lots of salt, there is no water exchange with the ocean, and it is economically unprofitable to desalinate concentrated saline water. The saltier the water, the less oxygen it contains. The region will always rely on water imports. The climate is hot and dry there, and you can't drink oil. There are about fifty tankers on shuQle voyages to the Persian Gulf. Many areas need water badly. And we are closest to the world's reserves of fresh water, we need to work harder.
But that will not resolve the problem. It is crucial that we change the technologies for extraction, enrichment and processing of mineral resources. Industries take billions of tons of fresh water, contaminate it and pour it into wastewater ponds. Then they take clean water again, pollute it and again pour it into sewage ponds. Water evaporates or is filtered into underground aquifers. That's the practice to be found almost everywhere.
And then they say that those chemicals are tricky – heavy metal salts are hard to remove and waste water cannot be treated enough to be reused. Industry needs clean water. After the waste pond is filled with dry residue the latter must be buried and sealed so as to shut it off from air and water. Dust storms can carry chemicals across vast areas, and heavy rains wash them off into water bodies.
But let's not talk about sad things. People want to live, drink pure natural water and be healthy.
Further to the left just in front of us is a plant for filling ice water in 1, 3 and 6 liters bottles made of biologically inert completely recyclable plastic (bottled water is exported and recycled bottles return in the form of plastic granules). Still further you can see the container terminal site and berths for receiving two 12,500 container vessels. This standard is suitable for the Suez Canal. Our exports reach out to Southeast Asia, Hindustan, Iran, Iraq, Persian Gulf. The second line is East Africa, the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Moreover, we are actively working with Australia's continental states delivering water, but this is our home business, the distances are shorter, so the terms are different.
On the leK there are floating harbors for icebergs. Our dandy has been unwrapped and dressed in a heating network to control melting and water harvesting. It is glittering in the sunlight and looms 40 meters above water. Behind it is a second half melted berg not more than 15 meters above the water surface. The third site is being prepared to receive the next ice-mass. Further behind them an open shoreline runs the length of half a kilometer. Behind it, a vast forest of countless wind generators begins. Their installed power is slightly over 3 GW, which is not a great deal nowadays.
"There's a very good bar upstairs with an ice room. Tourists have probably all visited it - many are curious to feel temperatures below zero. There is excellent beer, good coffee and you can have a snack. I


 remember Inge mentioned beer; we, too, could do with a pint or two. I can afford a drink, as my autopilot fortunately doesn't drink.
An android quickly delivered cold bottled beer in thermal insulation reporting the temperature: fourteen point two degrees.
"Good beer, we can stay here awhile, since we are here," said Rory. "Cheers! Australia is indeed a unique continent, almost like another planet."