Dubai-based developer Nakheel has dismissed a media report that its 300 man-made islands shaped like a map of the world are sinking, Reuters has reported. Britain's Daily Mail's website said that a picture from the US space agency NASA suggested that the islands were merging together and appeared to be sinking. 'Speculative reports suggesting that The World islands are sinking are wholly inaccurate,' the developer said in a statement. The load-bearing capacity of The World islands' reclaimed land mass is about twice that of mainland Dubai, Nakheel noted.