A Memorial University physicist says it is too soon to tell if a massive iceberg will pose problems for local oil platforms as it nears Labrador.

The Manhattan-sized iceberg broke off from a Greenland glacier in August of last year and has slowly made its way south.

Brad de Young says the iceberg used to be much larger and is losing mass each day.

"It was about three or four times the size of Manhattan, so it's both broken up and melted over the last year or so now. But it's still pretty enormous," de Young told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday morning.

Nearly a year later, the iceberg is moving south at the rate of about nine kilometers each day.

But de Young said the iceberg's precise path through the ocean is not easy to predict.

"It doesn't go in a straight line. And it speeds up, it takes a rest on some days," said de Young. "It's moving with the currents and the winds that drive it."

Depending on the winds it encounters and the way it continues to melt in the water, de Young said the ice island could pose a problem for oil rigs.

"It's a worry. I think it is moving southward and if it shifted towards the end of the (ocean) shelf where the currents are stronger, then it would move more quickly and would move more in the direction of the oil platforms," de Young said.

"I think that would be the big concern. If it stays more on the inner part of the shelf and the winds blow towards the coast, then it could end up grounded, at which point it would just sort of break up and melt quietly and the tourists would get a good look at it."