Abstract: Panels of cloth or sheet material are reeled out in parallel plane layers and joined in pairs along alternate edges to form a folded structure which can be deployed around at least a part of a tabular iceberg and then allowed to extend concertina-fashion to provide a protective jacket next to the flanks of the iceberg. The upper part of the skirt can be of more robust material in order to stand up to the action of waves and swell, while the submerged portion (deployed concertina-fashion) serves to keep warm water from coming in contact with the iceberg. The skirt is intended to protect icebergs being towed from antartic seas to the tropics.

Abstract: Melted ice stored in a pool hollowed out of the upper surface of a tabular iceberg is used as a cold source and the sea on which the iceberg is floating is used as a hot source for a heat engine. Useful energy is extracted in spite of the low Carnot cycle efficiency and the melting of the iceberg to provide fresh water is accelerated.