It was once said that “Innovation flows through Rotterdam, like the water through the Maas” (Port of Rotterdam, 2016). The Port of Rotterdam is one of the hubs of innovation in Rotterdam, and has built up a reputation in recent years of being one of the most technologically developed ports worldwide. This is due to, amongst other features, the use of automated guided vehicles to move cargo around the docks, and computer controlled cranes to load and unload goods entering or leaving the port. However up until now, the use of autonomous technologies has been largely limited to on-land operations. Enter the Waste Shark.
In partnership with South African start-up RanMarine, the Waste Shark, an autonomous drone roughly the size of a small car, will patrol the port waters, collecting up to 500kg of waste in one go in an ‘open mouth’ operating at 35cm below the water surface (Port of Rotterdam, 2016). The drone has the ability to learn its environment, finding more efficient routes and automatically unloading the waste at a designated collection point once full (van Wulfen, 2016). More and more plastic waste is ending up in our oceans and seas, and according to Port XL, 90% of that waste comes from urban areas (van Wulfen, 2016). However in and around the Port of Rotterdam, with congested waterways and structural obstacles, it is very often not safe or generally impractical for humans to collect this waste. This is where the Waste Shark comes can come into its own. Although this new innovative technology has never been used before in a port, by trialling it in Europe’s largest port and throwing it in at the deep end so to speak, then if successful this should encourage other port authorities around the world to sit up and take note. The Waste Shark can help both by reducing the amount of plastic waste that enters our oceans, and in the long run cutting costs as humans will no longer be required for these types of jobs.
In 2015, it is estimated that there were 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean, with 269,000 tonnes of this found on the surface (Morris, 2016). This has far reaching and profoundly deep consequences for our environment, as well as our health. Small plastic debris can be ingested by fish, which in turn are consumed by humans, leaving undesirable and harmful chemicals in our bodies (United Nations Environment Programme, 2016). As well as this, due to the slow degradation of these materials, they can be left floating at sea for years, until being washed up on a beach in a foreign land. By introducing four Waste Sharks into the waters of the Port of Rotterdam, initially on a six month trial the port authority is aiming to tackle this problem at the source. Although it is only a start, this could potentially go a long way to tackling the problem. If the trial is successful, in the future the Waste Shark could take a serious chunk out of global plastic pollution in our oceans and seas.
References
Morris, D. Z. (2016)
Trash-Eating “Shark” Drone Hits the Water in Rotterdam
Retrieved from: http://fortune.com/2016/09/11/trash-eating-drone-boat/
Port of Rotterdam (2016)
Water drone is Rotterdam’s latest port innovation
Retrieved from: https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news-and-press-releases/
water-drone-is-rotterdams-latest-port-innovation
United Nations Environment Programme (2016)
Plastic and Microplastics in our Oceans – A Serious Environmental Threat
Retrieved from: http://www.unep.org/stories/Ecosystems
Plastic-and-Microplastics-in-our-Oceans.asp
van Wulfen, G. (2016)
New Trash-Eating “Shark” Cleans the Water in Rotterdam
Retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-trash-eating-shark-
cleans-water-rotterdam-gijs-van-wulfen
