To mark Oceans of Plastic Day and its global target to address the issue of plastic pollution and the impact it can have on marine life, ecosystems, and human health, we take a look at the latest work that the team at Plastic Odyssey is undertaking. Their unique global journey aims to raise awareness and champion the fight against plastic pollution – on land and sea.
Having already visited destinations in Africa, South America, and French Polynesia, Plastic Odyssey and its team have been experiencing Southeast Asia on the latest leg of their journey.
After a one-month technical stop in Singapore for dry dock maintenance, the journey continued. During this part of the expedition the ship and her crew travelled along the Mekong River, passing through Vietnam before finally docking in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh - the furthest inland point ever reached by the vessel.
In Phnom Penh, the Plastic Odyssey team encountered a dynamic ecosystem of local entrepreneurs committed to environmental issues. For three days, the ship hosted the 20th edition of its OnBoard Laboratory incubation programme, welcoming local entrepreneurs with projects covering a wide range of waste management initiatives.
From Phnom Penh, Plastic Odyssey sailed to Hong Kong whilst some members of the team travelled overland to Vietnam (due to restrictions on vessels accessing Vietnamese ports) to explore some of the country’s recycling initiatives.
The Plastic Odyssey team visited numerous recycling initiatives in different cities over Vietnam whereas in the Philippines they helped establish two recycling micro-factories. These micro-factories (in shipping containers) will transform plastic waste into new materials and objects.
Since 2021 Lubmarine has been playing a supporting role in Plastic Odyssey’s global journey by providing our high-performance lubricants along with our very latest suite of global digital monitoring services.