The SV Kwai – a Honolulu-based sailing vessel – makes history collecting marine plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Operated by Island Ventures, one of the member’s of MCST’s Project Cerulean Design Review Team, the SV Kwai docked this week in Honolulu with more than 100 tons of fishing nets and consumer plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the northern Pacific Gyre. This constitutes the largest single cleanup from the enormous mass of marine litter in the Gyre thus far since its discovery , and doubles collection efforts thus far by the Kwai since last year. 

Ocean Voyages Institute, the charterer for the project, is proposing a much expanded future collection program – this means increased demand for vessels with similar capabilities as the SV Kwai to address this issue in the Pacific gyres.

1. https://sailinganarchy.com/2020/06/25/100-tons-of-people-not-caring/

2. https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/sailing-ship-sets-marine-plastic-recovery-record