dws-ocean-cleanup-impression-barrier-770px-1The Ocean Cleanup will be deploying a 100 meter-long barrier segment to collect floating garbage in the second quarter of 2016 in the North Sea, 23 km off the coast of The Netherlands.

It will be the first time our barrier design will be put to the test in open waters.

The main objective of the North Sea test is to monitor the effects of real-life sea conditions, with a focus on waves and currents. The motions of the barrier and the loads on the system will be monitored by cameras and sensors.

dws-ocean-cleanup-test-north-sea-barrier-design-350px  Design of the barriers on the test location in the North Sea.

Capturing the plastic debris
The floating barriers (see impression on top photo) are regarded as one of the most critical elements of the concept, since they are responsible for capturing and concentrating the plastic debris.

Due to their size and the extreme oceanic conditions, the barriers have always been top focus of the engineering team.

After extensive computer modelling and scale model testing in controlled environments at the Deltares and Marin basins, our engineers believe it is time to move the barrier to the next stage of development.

dws-ocean-cleanup-north-sea-test-location-350pxFirst operational cleanup system in Japan
The North Sea test will help the engineers to de-risk the first operational cleanup system planned to be deployed off the coast of Tsushima Island, Japan.

In order to be able to make full use of the North Sea test results, the go-ahead for the first system in Japan will be pushed back to the second half of 2016.

Clean up the world's oceanic garbage patches
Both tests are a part of The Ocean Cleanup’s efforts to develop a passive technology to clean up the world’s oceanic garbage patches, testing and iterating the floating barrier design.

The North Sea test will be helping to ensure the effectiveness and durability once the large-scale system will be deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2020.

This news item was originally published on the website of The Ocean Cleanup.

Read also on this website
● Ocean Cleanup enters new stage with model experiments in test basins of Marin and Deltares, the Netherlands, 23 November 2015
● Great pacific garbage cleanup fleet at full strength leaving Honolulu, Hawaii, 13 August 2015
● Ocean Cleanup announces world's first floatable ocean cleanup installation near Tsushima island, Japan, 29 May 2015
● Dutch inventor Boyan Slat wins UN top award for Ocean clean-up initiative, 18 November 2014
● Crowdfunding reached goal: 2 million dollars for prototype to clean oceans from plastics, 11 September 2014

More information
The Ocean Cleanup
Delft, the Netherlands
www.theoceancleanup.com