In June of last year, we posted about the sailing cargo ship Kwai that had collected more than 40 tons of plastic waste and “ghost nets” from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Ghost nets are abandoned fishing gear that continues to drift, catching and killing thousands of marine animals.
The Kwai, backed by the non-profit Ocean Voyages Institute, is setting new records for ocean cleanup. During a voyage in June, the ship retrieved 103 tons of plastic waste. Most recently, in a voyage ending in early August, the Kwai added 67 tons, for a total of 170 tons of plastic waste and nets removed from the Pacific. The haul quadruples the group’s previous year’s record. The Kwai’s endeavors are believed to represent the largest open ocean clean-up in history. Overall, the Ocean Voyages Institute is committed to removing 1 million pounds of plastic from the ocean.
In a press release, Ocean Voyages Institute’s Founder and Executive Director Mary T. Crowley states her group’s efforts are just getting started. “With plastic set to outnumber fish by 2040, we humans are responsible for the oceans collapsing in my lifetime, and we must set ambitious targets to tackle the problem of plastic in the ocean,” continuing, “even with our record-setting clean-up, I know we need to do more, and our 1 million pound goal is my commitment to the essential undertaking of cleaning the oceans of plastic.”
Ocean Voyages Institute’s high seas clean-up expedition began in May, with a 48-day mission, followed by a second 35-day leg which departed on July 1st, with the Kwai logging more than 5000 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Pacific Gyre and back twice this summer.
Today in Honolulu, Ocean Voyages Institute crew returned with a cargo hold full of ghost fishing nets and toxic plastic debris for the second time this summer. While docked in Honolulu, the ship’s crew will sort the debris into various types of plastics for upcycling and recycling with help from local volunteer groups.
“This summer definitely had its challenges, from COVID-19 and having to quarantine our hard-working crew, to almost not being able to depart on the second leg of our mission due to funding gaps,” added Crowley. “Now I feel like we are on a roll, and the support from around the world has been so encouraging, I know we will reach our million-pound goal and keep going cleaning our oceans and encouraging major changes in the use of plastics.”
OCEAN VOYAGES INSTITUTE COMMITS TO REMOVING 1 MILLION POUNDS OF PLASTIC FROM THE OCEAN
Thanks to Virginia Jones for contributing to this post.
We saw Kwai last year in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii. I thought at the time, they were a tramp steamer – well, not a steamer since they are wind powered – and I had a longing to book passage on them. I didn’t know then, about their good work, thanks for posting. Picking up after others is a thankless job, but they are appreciated and admired.
Just chuck it over the side!
I was just reading the MAIB report into the Grounding and recovery of container feeder vessel Thea II and tug Svitzer Josephine.
Apparently after the Thea refloated they jettisoned the tow line that the Josephine had earlier cast off when she refloated.
The jettisoned line then caught around the propeller of another of rescue tug causing yet more mayhem.