SAIL&CLEAN – A complete solution for sea cleaning: marine litter removal and optimal algal bloom harvesting

Project Information

SAILCLEAN

Grant agreement ID: 826061

DOI

10.3030/826061

Project closed

EC signature date 17 July 2018

Start date 1 August 2018

End date 30 November 2018

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

ASCO HARVESTER EHF
Iceland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAILCLEAN (SAIL&CLEAN – A complete solution for sea cleaning: marine litter removal and optimal algal bloom harvesting)

Reporting period: 2018-08-01 to 2018-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Over 150 million tonnes of plastics have accumulated and dispersed in the world's oceans while up to 8 million tons are added every year. Furthermore, due to eutrophication of seas, in the EU the annual cost of removing harmful algal blooms surpasses the €900 million. However, current inefficient harvesting efforts are limited to areas with easy access, with existing unstable harvesting boats. Because of lack of suitable harvester vessels capable of operating in harsh marine conditions, Europe is not only failing to collect sea debris and harmful algae with serious socioeconomic, economic and environmental effects, but also it is missing the opportunities of the growing algae markets and of developing sustainable algae harvesting industry.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Asco Harvester was founded in 2016 exclusively to develop a new family of harvester boats. Over the past 4 months we have assessed the technical, commercial and financial feasibility of our SAIL&CLEAN harvester boats, designed to operate in harsh marine conditions. We have performed a detailed market analysis, verifying the commercial potential to support our go-to-market activities. We have performed a global Freedom-To-Operate analysis and on the technical side, we have continued to verify the specification of our product. We have developed an execution plan for further development, including a detailed business plan, financial plan and, projections based on the marketing and price policy.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Our SAIL&CLEAN harvester boats will present extremely high productivity and will be capable of working in difficult areas, such as fjords, open oceans or river canals. The DUAL functionality of our boats enables them to harvest algae and collect marine debris and seaweed even in the harshest conditions and respecting the environment. With SAIL&CLEAN we will enable public authorities and companies offering coastal maintenance services to implement cleaning strategies for their marine waters, in line with Good Environmental Status (GES).

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