DeltaSea Marine Debris Collection System Comes to Life

A full-scale prototype of DeltaSea, a new marine debris collection system, has been successfully tested at a shipyard in Vancouver, Canada.

As informed, the testing, conducted in early December 2019, has validated all of the key operating parameters of the technology and verified the engineering models that will be utilized for the supply of future operating units.

The technology is being developed by Technika Engineering Ltd., a company based in Calgary, Canada, for the purpose of collecting plastics and other marine debris from water surfaces. It will also be adapted for the purpose of cleaning oil and chemical spills in ports, terminals, reservoirs, resorts and coastal cities.

Technika Engineering is now completing the development of the system in an effort to make it available for commercial operations in 2020.

“We are now putting in place resources needed to complete the development of the technology and make it commercially available,” Radé Svorcan, President of Technika Engineering, told World Maritime News.

“Most of the remaining work is related to auxiliaries, signaling, communication and control devices that are needed for safe interface of the system with sea traffic and the marine life while it is operating in open waters. We are planning to commence this part of the work within a couple of weeks and should have a fully operational unit by the end of the summer,” he continued.

Specifically, the main objective of the DeltaSea system is to enable “the efficient and economic collection” of plastics and other marine debris from water surfaces. The operating principle of the technology is based on utilizing a proprietary arrangement of helicoidal elements which deliver the three main functions required of the system — buoyancy support, propulsion, and collection of debris.

“This design provides an effective mechanical system that is highly energy-efficient and offers a high degree of operating flexibility,” the company explained.

DeltaSea is suitable for operations in an open ocean environment, coastal regions, river deltas and lakes. Due to its unique mode of operation, the technology is expected to be particularly effective in cleaning highly polluted areas where water surface is covered with densely concentrated debris. This addresses the main limitations of the existing technologies, such as vessels equipped with sweeping arms, which when operating in such conditions are subject to high energy consumption and other issues such as clogging by debris.

DeltaSea assembly will be provided with monitoring, control and communication devices to ensure its safe interface with sea traffic and the marine life. It can be remotely controlled and programmed for autonomous unmanned operations.

Due to its high energy efficiency, the system can be fully powered by solar energy and the energy of water waves. These features make it suitable for collecting debris in remote offshore locations, such as the ocean gyres, the company further said.

World Maritime News Staff