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Norwegian Billionaire Funding World's Largest Superyacht—to Vacuum Plastic Garbage Out of the Ocean

Having made his fortune on the sea, Kjell Inge Røkke wants to help clean it up

By Rain Noe - August 4, 2017

in Social Impact | Boats | Sustainable Design

A gent named Kjell Inge Røkke is one of Norway's richest men, worth some $2.6 billion. He made his fortune in the shipping and offshore drilling industries. "The sea has given me great opportunities. I am grateful for that," Røkke told Aftenposten. "I will give back to the community the bulk of what I have earned."

As part of Røkke's give-back he's commissioned the world's largest superyacht, a 595-footer with a crew of 30.

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But this will be no idle pleasure craft: Instead the vessel will be managed by the World Wildlife Fund Norway, and the boat's 30 crew members will host up to 60 researchers. There is room on board for 32 shipping containers, in which researchers can create their own specialty laboratories. This REV (Research Expedition Vehicle) will be loaded up with scientific equipment—" becoming a complete state-of-the-art oceanographic research center"—and, intriguingly, will also serve as a cruising clean-up and disposal platform:

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…On its way, [floating] plastic rubbish will be sucked up and burned on board without a single toxic discharge. The ship gets the capacity to melt five tons of plastic a day.

"We will experiment on ways to catch plastic out of the sea," says Røkke.

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The construction and operating costs of the ship, including the crew's salaries, will all be paid for out of Røkke's pocket.

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"Sea covers 70 percent of the Earth's surface and much research has not been done," says Røkke. "I have a desire to give something back. The ship should be a platform to reap more knowledge and understanding. Researchers and other knowledge communities will hopefully together develop solutions and make a difference."

Sources: Inhabitat, Aftenposen

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Osagie Igbeare

7 years ago

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This is great - stories like this (i.e. the wealthy leveraging their resources to uplift society / others around them) don't get enough coverage.

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Donald Jones

7 years ago

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For the cost of this vessel, he could hire 100 Purse Seine netters, to go out and catch all that plastic in either the Atlantic or Pacific Gyres. No research necessary.

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- Robert Wilkey
  
  Donald Jones
  
  7 years ago
  
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  A single Purse Seine netter can cover appx. 20,000 square feet of ocean surface, maximum, per cast. The North Pacific garbage patch alone (yes, there are multiple) covers an area of approximately 7,500,000,000,000 square feet, by even the absolutely most conservative estimates. Their storage by volume is relatively limited as well, due to the small size of the craft. That means, by most optimistic calculations, 375,000,000 casts by the most capable craft to cover the lowest estimate of just one of the many floating garbage patches. Additionally, a Purse Seine net is designed to go to a pretty deep depth, where grabbing all the trash would only require shallow surface netting.
  
  Not saying that this giant sea craft is a better idea, and off the bat, paying Purse Seine netters the same amount would probably have a much more dramatic initial effect on cleaning up the ocean, but at the same time, I'd rather someone spend that money finding a more efficient and dramatically cleaner and probably more effective method of cleaning our oceans than putting a quick-fix ban-aid on the issue.
  
  Again, not saying I have any faith in this craft accomplishing that hefty task, but I wanted to point out the scale of such an operation.
  
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  - Donald Jones
    
    Robert Wilkey
    
    7 years ago
    
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    My answer was, You are right, BS. My point, there are cheaper options than building this boat. Do something. Anything! How about those old Whaling factory ship designs where they hauled the carcass up a ramp.
    Buy a used Ocean tug and barge. Hire people to pick up trash with nets from inflatables. Necessity is the Mother of Invention, their design looks like a rich guys play thing.
    
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