Ocean Village looks to Seabins to clear surface litter

Ocean Village Marina will install “Seabins” in a bid to clean up litter from the surface of its marina waters round-the-clock.

The “Seabins” will be strategically placed and are designed to “skim and filter out rubbish, floating debris and other pollutants from the water as it collects in the harbour or is blown in by wind and tide from outside of the bay,” said marina director William Bowman.

“It would be so much better if NO plastic wrappers cigarette ends, bottles and bottle tops found their way into the water but until this happens the Seabins will work all day and every day to remove this surface pollution.”

“Once collected we can dispose of and re-cycle it safely and enjoy a cleaner Marina. We want to play our part in removing plastics and other pollutants from the oceans and these Seabins are the next step at Ocean Village and Marina Bay Marinas.”

For some time the marina has deployed its own staff on a regular basis to “litter pick” the sea bed and to remove floating objects on the surface, Mr Bowman said.

“This is done on days when the seabed has best visibility and tide times and has vastly reduced the amount of debris on the seabed. This good work will continue,” he said.

The inclusion of sea bins form part of a planning application for improvements to marina facilities which aims to give users “better access to the water, wider and better berths”, enabling them to “enjoy a safer and more pleasurable boating experience.”

The plans will also see public access enhanced and night time security improved.

Aside from increasing the number of berths available and improving access to the water Mr Bowman explains that one of the main aims of the planning application is to protect the marine environment.