Iceberg more than twice the size of Mumbai has a close shave with Antarctica ice shelf - WATCH

The iceberg, names A-74, had broken off the unstable Brunt Ice Shelf in the polar continent of Antarctica. The giant iceberg breaking off the ice shelf was reported by the European Space Agency (ESA) back in March 2021.

The iceberg continued to float in the same position for months until being gently nudged into a course by strong winds recently. The ice berg has been moving across a peninsular region of the Antarctic ice shelf. Calculated to be around 1270 square kilometres in size, the iceberg recently had a close shave with the iceshelf.

The dramatic images of the giant iceberg brushing the unstable ice shelf were shared by ESA on their Twitter account. The graze was captured in a series of photographs captured by the ESA’s satellite between August 9 and 18.

Berg-watch!

The #A74 iceberg near collision with Brunt Ice Shelf as seen by @CopernicusEU #Sentinel1
In early August, strong winds have spun the iceberg around the western tip of Brunt.
A-74 then gently 'booped' the ice shelf before heading southwards: https://t.co/JY8NeQjuwz pic.twitter.com/2qtqTMdPgW

— ESA EarthObservation (@ESA_EO) August 20, 2021

While the shave was a gentle one, a harder hit could have been catastrophic, resulting in the breaking away of another giant iceberg, which would have been larger than A-74.

In a statement released by the agency last week, Mark Drinkwater, head of ESA's Earth & Mission Science Division noted, “The nose-shaped piece of the ice shelf, which is even larger than A-74, remains connected to the Brunt Ice Shelf, but barely. If the berg had collided more violently with this piece, it could have accelerated the fracture of the remaining ice bridge, causing it to break away.”    

The agency will continue to monitor the iceberg’s movement.