TO CLOSE

This strange ship looks like a cross between an oil rig and a floating pool and could help clean up the Great Pacific trash parcel.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI

The 001 Ocean Cleanup System floating in the lagoon in front of Alameda Assembly Park in California.(Photo: Ocean Cleanup)

SAN FRANCISCO – With millions of dollars in support, some from tech giants, the idea of ​​a 23-year-old Dutch student is racing on Saturday afternoon, ready to face the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans.

The hope is that the ship, the first of a planned fleet or 60 or more, can dump the millions of pounds of plastic waste that accumulate in slow oceanic whirlpools that can reach hundreds of kilometers.

The unsightly vessel will begin with a long line of 2,000-foot connected dams that will be towed from the Dockyard where it was built at Alameda, across the bay, from San Francisco. It will pass under the Golden Gate Bridge and reach a test area approximately 275 kilometers off the coast of California.

Once in place, Ocean Cleanup, called System 001, will be deployed. The floating series of connected arrows of the passive system will naturally take the form of a wide U. Under the dams, a 9-foot skirt delicately correlates the plastic waste that contaminates our seas.

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Currents and waves push the waste into the center of the machine to collect it. Floating particles are captured by the net while the thrust of water against the net propels fish and other marine species under and beyond.

A garbage can will be sent to pick up the garbage collected and transport it to the shore, where it will be recycled.

The system is equipped with solar-powered lamps and anti-collision systems to prevent any stray ship from colliding with it, as well as cameras, sensors and satellites that allow it to communicate with its creators.

A multi-year project

The project is due to the efforts of Boyan Slat, who, as a teenager, was so disgusted by the plastic waste he encountered in Greece that he dedicated his life to cleaning up the mess.

The non-profit organization that he helped create has received support from the Dutch government, individuals and many players in the tech world, including Marc Benioff of Salesforce. Last year, it received $ 5.9 million in donations and declared reserves of $ 17 million in previous years.

The system is being built in San Francisco to tackle the world's largest five gyres, the famous Great Pacific Garbage Patch. These stains consist of huge concentrations of waste, mostly consisting of floating plastics.

Due to eddies (which act as slow swirls), floating garbage congregates in areas of several hundred kilometers.

On Saturday, the ship Maersk Launcher will transport the sea cleaning machine, along with seven Ocean Cleanup personnel, 18 crew members from the Danish shipping company Maersk and five independent marine observers. The press will follow in boats, helicopters and airplanes. The entire event will be broadcast live on the Ocean Cleanup website.

It will take about five days for the system to reach the test area, where it will be deployed for about two weeks.

If all goes well, it will be towed to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch nearly 1,400 miles off the west coast, roughly halfway between California and Hawaii.

The project is hailed by many as a positive attempt to address the growing problem of plastic pollution in the oceans.

However, many in the world of marine biology and oceanography are concerned that this may prevent the public from focusing on the real problem, first of all by preventing the seemingly endless flow of waste into the oceans.

While Rolf Halden, professor of environmental health engineering at Arizona State University, applauds this effort, he says cleaning while garbage dumped in garbage cans does not have much meaningless.

"If you leave the doors open during a sandstorm while you vacuum," he said, "you will not go very far".

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