Switzerland/Environment: a new depollution boat presented in Geneva
A new model of multi-purpose cleanup boat was presented in Geneva on Thursday by the SeaCleaners association. It sucks up floating waste from depths of up to 40 cm.
In Geneva on Thursday, the SeaCleaners association presented a new model of its multi-purpose cleanup boat. Built in Brittany, this Mobula 8.2, which will be sent to Malaysia, can clean an area of 15,000 m2 per hour.
"The boat takes its name from the Mobula stingray, which filters water to feed itself," explains Antoine Iché, project coordinator for operations at SeaCleaners. Once the mouth is open at the front of the boat, two concentrator arms rake over a width of 4 meters, sucking up floating waste up to 40 cm deep.
In a basket
An old buoy drifting along the Plage des Eaux-Vives is swallowed up for this first demonstration run of the Mobula 8.2 outside Brittany. The waste ends up in a basket amidships. This basket is then lifted and emptied on site for initial sorting. Up to 2.3 tons of waste can be stored on the boat.
A first model of the Mobula has been working in Bali for eight months. Founded in 2016, the SeaCleaners association started from the observation that a ton of plastic is dumped into the oceans every three seconds, and that it was necessary to take action.an and that it was necessary to act upstream by "turning off the tap at source", noted Benoit de Torcy, general manager for SeaCleaners Switzerland.
Liquids too
The boat has been designed to collect waste in rivers, estuaries, mangroves and near ports. It can go to sea up to 6 miles from the coast. This second model of the Mobula, presented in Geneva's harbor, can collect macro-waste, but also liquids - such as diesel - which are absorbed by a sponge at the rear of the boat. Up to 600 liters can be collected.
"The improvements made to the Mobula 8.2 mean that waste collection is now much more efficient," explains de Torcy. The micro-waste is collected in a net attached to the end of the basket, but this is only used for scientific studies. SeaCleaners also runs awareness campaigns to reduce the production of plastic waste.
Source: www.lenouvelliste.ch/
