Swiss company Grove Boats has introduced a debris clearing boat that is claimed to have zero emissions. The SeaCleaner 400 features electric propulsion and has been designed for operating in ports, marinas and swimming areas.

With over 20 years experience in the development of solar electric boats for passenger transport and aware of the increasing volume of floating waste, particularly in ports and bathing areas, Grove Boats  launched its Sea Cleaner 400 as a clearing boat that runs on electric power supplied by solar energy. As Grove Boats describes this new vessel, it is a "clean, cleaning boat".

While navigating in a chosen area, this vessel collects floating waste such as plastics, polystyrene,

algae, wood, etc and stores it on board in a dedicated container which can then be lifted ashore. A mechanism for the skimming of hydrocarbons is under development and will be available as an option.

The Sea Cleaner 400 is based on an easily driven catamaran hull with the standard construction in aluminium. Grove is offering the option of environmentally friendly and recyclable construction materials such as a laminate constructed from flax, with cork used as the sandwich material, adding to the environmental credentials.

The Sea Cleaner 400 is 4m in length with a beam of 2m and a draft of just 0.4m. Its compact size allows it to gain access to tight corners in harbours, the sort of places where debris can collect. The empty weight of the vessel is 420 kg.

The power comes from a pair of electric motors that are rated at 1.6 kW each, driving fixed propellers. These motors are powered from a bank of lithium or lead batteries which can be charged overnight from shore power and which are topped up by a solar array panel mounted on the T-Top over the helm, which can supply 600W. This gives the Sea Cleaner an autonomous full day of operation.

Amongst the benefits claimed by Grove Boats are that the Sea Cleaner is highly manoeuvrable and easy to handle, it projects a ‘green’ image, and it is silent with very low maintenance requirements. It is also very low cost to operate, with no fuel required.

The first of these Sea Cleaners is scheduled for launch early this year.

Source: maritimejournal.com; Dag Pike