Bureau Veritas awards AIP to waste-collecting sailship

Bureau Veritas has awarded an approval in principle (AIP) to a new sailship that will collect floating plastic waste in coastal and estuarine waters.

The vessel, due to set sail at the end of 2025, was developed by Manta Innovation, the integrated engineering design office of non-profit The SeaCleaners, with the support of naval architects Ship-ST and LMG Marin.

At 56 metres long and 26 metres wide, Mants will be equipped with an on-board factory including a waste-to-energy conversion unit. BV said the vessel will be the first concentrated ecology and technology factory ship capable of collecting and processing floating ocean waste en masse before it gets fragmented, starts to drift, and penetrates marine ecosystems.

The vessel will also serve as a state-of-the-art scientific laboratory for the observation, analysis, and understanding of ocean plastic pollution and as an educational platform open to the public.

BV reviewed the overall structure, stability, and security plans of Manta, based on risk mitigation around new technologies and requirements.