SEAVAX™ TRIALS - Cost effective pollution monitoring and cleaning all in one. You have to think big to clean a sea or ocean. Anything less is a waste of time. It's pointless trying to clean up a huge body of moving water with a teaspoon - you need to cost any system from collection to disposal, include recycling - wherever that is practical - if you are to stand any chance of achieving a Global Circular Economy, where climate warming is changing ocean chemistry for the foreseeable future. Coastal towns and islanders looking to set up a cooperative to deal with their emergencies and crisis situations - for long term peace of mind - may want to explore the potential of SeaVax custom built units.

SEAVAX ADAPTATION TO GENERAL PURPOSE WATER CLEANING WORKBOATS

The SeaVax concept can be adapted to clean river waste as a RiverVax variation, or more to the point, a dedicated sargassum harvester. We will be writing more about this subject as we look deeper into the problems being faced by countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico and islands in the Caribbean Sea, and define how this vessel may become a useful tool in the global arsenal against pollution. To date everyone has been looking for a free lunch, using volunteers. But those times are long gone. Potential customers are now looking for custom solutions, and seeking Expressions of Interest from contractors/developers, such as that issued by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (Department of the Environment) in July 2018.

COST EXAMPLE: After the 2018 sargassum surge, occupancy rates at Riviera Maya hotels declined by 2.87 percent. That same year, hotels between Cancún and Puerto Morelos to the south spent around $200,000 (£146,000) 'each' on wages for beach clean-up personnel and transporting seaweed to ecologically unsound disposal sites. Many hotels used specialized removal boats, which can cost up to a million dollars (U.S.), and for offshore sargassum barriers that run $100 (£70) per linear foot.

In light of the forecast increase in blooms, we believe there could be a good business case for keeping beaches clear of noxious seaweeds, and turning harvests of macro algae into cash crops, turning a crisis into an opportunity:

BIOMASS - BUILDING MATERIALS - CANCER - CLOTHING & SHOES - CO2 SEQUESTRATION - COSMETICS

FERTILIZERS - FOODS - MEDICINES - MINERALS - PACKAGING - SUPPLEMENTS - VITAMINS

SARGASSUM COOPERATIVE EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST: The "Sargassum Cooperative CIC" is a proposed consortium of affected Governments, the aim of such group being to develop a cost-effective system for the sustainable, proactive removal and long-term management of pelagic Sargassum seaweed in the Mexican Gulf and Caribbean Sea - and specifically, for sharing the development and operational costs of specialized harvesting and handling equipment. Thus meeting the economic and environmental needs of these geographical regions, in relation to the present crisis, and future emergency situations.

The "Cooperative" would first assess the potential for cost saving by adding up the beneficiaries and dividing the "System CAPEX" by the number of islands and commercial beachfront properties, then dividing the estimated CAPEX by the number of participants, on a sliding scale, based on population and/or tourist statistics. This will give those looking at ways of containing overheads, a way to asses the benefits/negatives of group membership - and importantly, negotiate equitable terms.

Please contact the Cleaner Ocean Foundation with your interest.

PROPOSED SEAVAX (CALYPSO & SARGASSO) TARGET SPECIFICATIONS 2023

TARGET  CALYPSO™ SPECIFICATIONS (SARGASSUM) 2023:

* 100 tons (@340-500kg/M3 variable) before discharge to a designated beach location or dock area, via support vehicle if necessary.

* Climate neutral - Solar and Hydrogen powered to eliminate NOx and CO emissions for sustainability.

* Cost effective in the long term - with a break even point against diesel (-) and seaweed (+).

* Width = 5 metres x Length = 15 metres (16 x 48ft) including survey drone.

* Height from sea to deck = 4.0 metres (13ft).

* Hydrogen storage tanks = TBA.

* Fuel cell and reformers = TBA.

* Featuring a sizeable fixed width 4.0 meter (13ft) collection head and multiple treatment stages.

* Featuring  moveable sweeps to increase the apparent width of the collector head to 12.0 meters.

Initial proposal to include 30 vessels (1 per island) in the Caribbean, operating in coordinated fleet formation to collect and disgorge 5 x loads/day = 15,000 tons/day capacity - or around 3 million tons over 200 days. Added to this, a further 20 vessels, 5 per Government, in the Mexican Gulf - adding a further 2 million tons over 200 days.

To this, we would suggest that an auxiliary fleet of 50 vessels, operating further out to sea, might be funded by the US Administration, adding another 5 millions tons capacity (over 200 days), for a total proactive fleet capacity of 10 million tons.

We would suggest phasing such fleet in, after assessment of one island using 5 sargassum patrol vessels (to simulate group operations). Before this, assessing just one development prototype, and one beach launch and recovery vehicle (if needed). Most especially in terms of reducing asset processing.

In support of such endeavour, the parties may wish to consider installing solar and wind powered electrolyzers, to produce green hydrogen, to fuel any ocean/beach cleaning equipment, in line with UN SDGs 3 (good health), 6 (sanitation), 11 (sustainable communities), 13 (climate action), 14 (life below water) and 15 (life on land).

Likewise, by way of the potential of sargassum as a cash crop, to undertake a study as to the market worth, of appropriately treated macro algae. Most especially in terms of cleaning cost offset from earnings from biomass, fertilizers, foods, chemicals and carbon sequestration.

ORIGINAL (SEAVAX) and (RIVERVAX) TARGET SPECIFICATIONS (PLASTIC) 2016

ORIGINAL SEAVAX™ SPECIFICATIONS (PLASTIC) 2016:

* 150 tons before discharge to a land location by docking.

* Climate neutral - Solar and Wind powered to eliminate NOx and CO emissions for sustainability.

* Cost effective in the long term - with a break even point for plastic recyclers.

* Width = 17 metres x Length = 45 metres (55 x 147.5ft) including drone landing pad.

* Height from sea to deck = 4.3 metres (14ft).

* Turbine width = 20.4 (66ft) from turbine (port) tip to (starboard) tip.

* Variable turbine height with fold down to get under bridges.

* Featuring a giant 13.5 meter (44ft) collection head and multiple treatment stages.

ORIGINAL TARGET  RIVERVAX™ SPECIFICATIONS (PLASTIC) 2016:

* 20 tons before discharge to a riverbank site, dedicated support vehicle or designated dock area.

* Climate neutral - Solar and Wind powered to eliminate NOx and CO emissions for sustainability.

* Cost effective in the long term - with a break even point against other river skimmers.

* Width = 5 metres x Length = 11 metres (16 x 36ft) including a smaller drone landing pad.

* Height from river to deck = 2.5 metres (8ft).

* Turbine width = 6.4 (34ft) from turbine (port) tip to (starboard) tip.

* Variable turbine height with fold down to get under bridges.

* Tidal generator to take advantage of river currents to harvest free energy.

* Featuring a sizeable fixed width 3.0 meter (10ft) collection head and multiple treatment stages.

* Featuring  moveable sweeps to increase the apparent width of the collector head.

We will no longer be using wind turbines, favoring solar power and green hydrogen derived fuels, working in combination.

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