Pacific Garbage Patch, But Return Planned for 2019...
The u-shaped cleanup system that was deployed to the Pacific
Garbage patch last fall is headed back to port for repairs due
to a “structural malfunctioning” of the system, the company
behind the project has announced.
In a blog post published this week, Founder and CEO of The
Ocean Cleanup Project, Boyan Slat, said crews had discovered
that an 18-meter end-section of System 001 had detached,
requiring the entire system to be towed back to port for
repairs and upgrades earlier than initially planned.
Both the 580-meter main section and the 18-meter end
section are both reported to be completely stable. System 001
has now been safely opened and reconnected to the Maersk
Transporter, which has commenced the tow back to the United
States.
System 001, dubbed “Wilson”, departed from San Francisco
for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch back in September as the
world’s first large-scale system that would attempt to remove
some of the nearly 2 trillion pieces of plastic that is estimated
to be floating on or near the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
Despite early performance issues, which Slat openly detailed
in a blog post published in November, plus these new
developments, Slat admits that although disappointing, the
system is returning to port with terabytes of data that will be
used to make upgrades so that the system can return to the
Garbage Patch again in 2019.
The Maersk Transporter is also carrying around 2000 kg of
plastic that was recovered over the past few weeks through a
combination of the cleanup system and ghost net fishing. For
comparison, Slat notes, System 001 is expected to harvest
1000 kg per week
“Although we would have liked to end the year on a more
positive note, we believe these teething troubles are solvable,
and the cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will be
operational in 2019. The fact that the cleanup system orients
itself in the wind, is able to follow the waves well and is able to
catch and concentrate plastic gives us confidence in the
technology,” Slat writes.
Down the road, the Ocean Cleanup Project envisions System
001 to be the first of around 60 systems focused on the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch over the next two years. According to
the group, the fleet could be enough to remove half of the
plastic in the Garbage Patch within just five years’ time.
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