VIDEO: Maersk Supply joins Ocean Cleanup project

AUGUST 16, 2018 — Maersk Supply Service is to provide marine support to the Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans from plastic.

Over five trillion pieces of plastic waste are estimated to now be littering all major ocean basins. The Ocean Cleanup, a globally recognized front-runner addressing the problem of plastic pollution, has developed a solution in the form of long floating screens thatcollect plastic debris for recycling.

This fall the first offshore cleaning system, in a partnership between the Ocean Cleanup and Maersk Supply Services, will be installed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), located 1200 nautical miles off the coast of San Francisco.

The system will be deployed by Maersk Supply Service’s AHTS vessel Maersk Launcher.

“We are truly proud to be supporting the installation of the Ocean Cleanup’s first system,” said Steen S. Karstensen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service. “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.”

Departing on September 8, 2018, the system will be delivered 250 nautical miles offshore for a twoweek sea trial before towage to the final deployment location at the GPGP.

Maersk Supply Service will in addition to the towing and installation, be monitoring The Ocean Cleanup’s System 001. Total duration of the campaign is expected to be 60 days.

“Part of Maersk Supply Service’s strategy is to diversify its business and use its technical capabilities in new areas outside traditional oil and gas. With recently announced other new partnerships in innovative fields with DeepGreen and with Vestas Wind Systems , this collaboration with the Ocean Cleanup is a confirmation we are taking important steps in this direction,” said Steen S. Karstensen.

Maersk Launcher is currently on charter by DeepGreen, a Canadian company working on recovering essential metals from the surface of the deep ocean floor. DeepGreen has released the vessel for the Ocean Cleanup project and will share the charter cost of providing the Maersk Launcher for deployment of the first cleanup system with A.P. Moller – Maersk and DeepGreen. The total contribution to The Ocean Cleanup project is around $2 million in vessel services and equipment which also includes providing transportation of equipment needed for the installation of Cleanup System 001, from the U.K. and Denmark to San Francisco, as well as providing the containers that will be used for the return to land of the collected plastic.

“Maersk contributes to the protection of the ocean environment through enhancing the sustainability of all our activities both at sea and on land. In addition to always taking great care that our operations do not pollute the oceans with plastic, we are also very pleased to take part in the world’s first major collection of plastics from the ocean. As a responsible maritime operator, we are committed to ensuring that the oceans can remain a healthy environment for generations to come,” says Claus V. Hemmingsen, Vice CEO of A.P. Moller – Maersk and CEO of the Energy division.

The Ocean Cleanup’s long-term ambition is to install a fleet of at least 60 floating screens in order to remove 50% of the 80,000 tonnes of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every five years.