In a post on LinkedIn, Graeme Somerville-Ryan, the founder of Eyesea, warned about rubbish piling up in many ships, as ports do not allow garbage disposal during the pandemic.
Namely, Mr. Somerville-Ryan posted the following photo, noting that it is a makeshift garbage room completely full.
As he said, this image was sent depicting a vessel that has been unable to fully offload rubbish and waste in nearly a year due to port and country regulations.
These same ports are happy to sell stores – and fine vessels for sanitation failings – but will not offload rubbish. So what should these seafarers do? What would you do? I admire the fact they haven’t dumped this overboard
Commenting on the post, Peter Schellenberger, vice president at Thome Group, agreed that “this is indeed an often neglected part of our maritime supply chain.”
However, he noted that this can also be seen as a chance for Singapore “to be a role model”.
The not-for-profit organisation Eyesea has successfully tested its pollution-mapping app on ocean-going vessels, when proof-of-concept readings using the prototype app were taken by crew members of an Oldendorff Carriers vessel near Florida, and seafarers manning a Union Marine Management Services (UMMS) vessel off the coast of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
Launched in December 2020, Eyesea uses technology and the support of seafarers, ship owners, managers and maritime professionals to collect and process oceanic pollution data.
The data is used to build detailed maps and charts available free of charge to governments, clean-up groups, researchers, local authorities and a range of other stakeholders, enabling them to take targeted clean-up action and make evidence-based policy decisions.
