System 001 has launched into the Pacific
After 5 years of research, engineering and testing, we launched the world’s first ocean cleanup system from San Francisco Bay, marking the start of the cleanup. The system is now on its way to an intermediary test stop, 250-350 nautical miles offshore for a 2-week trial before continuing its journey toward the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1,200 nautical miles offshore, to start the cleanup.
The journey of the tow through the bay was livestreamed from 12 pm PT until the system had left the bay, crossed Golden Gate Bridge and sailed off onto the Pacific Ocean.
It will take 3-5 days to complete the transfer to the Pacific Trials testing area, where System 001 will be installed in its operational u-shape configuration for the first time. The system’s behavior will be extensively monitored during this final test, which is expected to last around two weeks. After the trials have concluded, System 001 will be towed the remaining ~1000 nautical miles to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This will be a long journey, as the average tow speed is 2-4 knots. We expect that the trip to the patch will take approximately two to three more weeks. Once it arrives, the cleanup will commence....MOREAs previously reported, MarineLink, August 16:
Maersk Signs on to Help Clean up Ocean Plastic
Offshore services provider Maersk Supply Service has signed onto a project that aims to collect tons of plastic waste littering the world's oceans.
In the comping months, the Denmark based firm will provide marine support to the Dutch nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup, which will install its first cleanup system in the North Pacific as part of the planet’s first large-scale initiative for collection of floating ocean-plastic debris.
Global plastic production has risen steadily since the 1950s. It is estimated that more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic waste now litter all major ocean basins. The Ocean Cleanup, is a globally recognized front-runner addressing the problem of plastic pollution, having developed a solution in the form of long floating screens to collect plastic debris for recycling.
This fall the first offshore cleaning system will be installed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), located 1,200 nautical miles off the coast of San Francisco. The system will be deployed by Maersk Supply Service’s AHTS vessel Maersk Launcher.
Maersk Launcher (Photo: Maersk Supply Service)
“We are truly proud to be supporting the installation of The Ocean Cleanup’s first system. Large towing operations have been a part of Maersk Supply Service’s work-scope for decades. It is rewarding to see that our marine capabilities can be utilized within new segments, and to support solving such an important environmental issue,” said Steen S. Karstensen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service....MOREThe Ocean Cleanup says they can scoop half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years while the rest of the world figures out how to stop the stuff getting into the rivers and out to sea in the first place.
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