Shipping Giant Vows to Continue War on Pollution of Oceans with Plastic

DENMARK – NETHERLANDS – Back in 2018 we wrote how Maersk Supply Service A/S had offered to support The Ocean Cleanup project for three years in a bid to help end the scourge of plastic pollution at sea.

Now the Danish owned group has opted to continue its support and is also launching a Plastic Policy to increase its own focus on how it can reduce plastic waste from its own operations and supply chain.

The company’s three anchor handlers Maersk Launcher, Maersk Transporter and Maersk Handler and crew have been supporting various test phases of the offshore operation in the Pacific Ocean and the North Sea. The first collection of plastic waste was turned into new, fully recycled products in the Autumn of 2020.

Maersk says with its seafarers sailing the ocean every day and witnessing the increasing problem with plastic polluting the waters, it feels as a responsible maritime operator, the necessity of committing to ensuring the oceans remain a healthy environment for future generations to come. Steen S. Karstensen, CEO of Maersk Supply Service, said:

”We look forward to continuing the collaboration with The Ocean Cleanup and providing project management and marine support over the coming years.”

By introducing a Plastic Policy, Maersk Supply Service says it is strengthening its focus on how it can reduce plastic waste. The policy has three navigating principles:

• Use its marine expertise to help come up with solutions to rid plastic from the oceans
• Avoid unnecessary plastic in its operations
• Engage with suppliers, partners, customers and employees to find solutions to minimise plastic use and be transparent about the results and lessons learnt

Maersk Supply Service employs an international staff of approximately 1100 offshore and 250 onshore spread across several continents and Karstensen continued:

“Plastic waste in our oceans is an increasing issue. With the new Plastic Policy, we commit to how we will work to reduce our plastic footprint and actively take part in solving this global environmental problem. We will do this in partnerships and close collaboration, with our employees, suppliers, partners, customers and industry peers.

”A great takeaway from the collaboration with The Ocean Cleanup is the willingness people have to find solutions that are both impactful for the marine industry and are bettering for the environment. We believe that we can make a change and we can do more together.”

Photo: Courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup.