ENVIRONMENT:
Shipping and ports are essential to the EU economy, as they facilitate the import/export of goods. Thus, the total gross weight of goods handled in EU ports was estimated at 3.7 billion tons in 2013. However, they contribute to multiple environmental pressures: introduction of non-indigenous species, introduction of synthetic and non-synthetic compounds or marine litter. One of the most serious threats to the marine environment is the oil spills. Approximately 5.74M tons of oil were lost as a result of tanker incidents from 1970 to 2014 at global level by means costs of €155billion. Nevertheless, most oil spills are the result of routine and daily operations, thus, small/medium sized spills account for 95% of all the incidents. Moreover, the disposal of waste and discharge of sewage have severe effects on marine and fluvial life and water quality deterioration, being the most damaging the plastics (80% of all marine debris). Marine litter including flotsam has also other consequences: affecting the whole food cycle by entering and accumulating in animals (i.e. mussels), death of species or economic costs for removing litter from beaches and for reducing the tourism. Hence, potential cost across EU for coastal and beach cleaning was assessed at €630M per year.
EMPLOYMENT:
The OC-TECH project means a significant breakthrough for local regions where the vessels will be deployed. Specifically, Cádiz (region where OCT and first commercial prospects are based) leads the unemployment in Spain (42,05% in 2015); The top-3 unemployment cities in Spain are concentrated in the province of Cadiz, owning also additional 4 out of the top 11, according to European project Urban Audit . Additionally, having a 70% of youth unemployment, our project devises the development of a new business capable to grow so as to generate the seeds for future socio-economic development of Cádiz region.
