Huge iceberg loosened from the South Pole

A gigantic iceberg, larger than North Holland and South Holland together, has become detached from the South Pole.

The European space agency ESA has watched the iceberg with satellites. The ice floats now in the Weddell Sea, part of the Southern Ocean and can float to the north, where the water is warmer.

The iceberg is 175 kilometers long and in some places 50 kilometers wide. He can become a risk at sea. Antarctica lies outside important trade routes, but it is a destination for cruise ships from South America. In 2009, more than 150 passengers and crew were evacuated when their ship MTV Explorer sailed on an iceberg.