August Race is urging the industry to go beyond ‘green claims’ ahead of its launch of MARPOL-compliant marine cleaning initiative.
After two years of development, August Race is preparing to launch its Oceans Assured initiative globally. The product and system aims to address how sustainability is approached within the leisure marine sector – moving away from marketing-led claims towards science-based, evidence-led, and fully compliant solutions.
Over the past two years, August Race has reformulated its entire range to ensure that all products are:
- 100 per cent non-harmful to the marine environment (Non-HME)
- Fully aligned with MARPOL Annex V requirements
- Supported by verifiable data, documentation, and traceability
The global launch of Oceans Assured will take place on 22 April (World Earth Day) at 3:30pm BST, streamed live from Premier Marinas’ flagship site at Noss on Dart, Dartmouth. Readers can view the live stream online.
MIN’s deep dive on the MARPOL Annex V requirements and needs for marina operators and leisure boat owners to understand their obligations regarding compliance, outlines the impact and time sensitivity of these issues.
Operational pollution remains a ‘hidden challenge, under-addressed’ issue for the marine sector
The new range also expands into operational maintenance products, including laundry detergents, kitchen cleaners, multipurpose degreasers and lubricants, enabling both the leisure and commercial sectors to operate within a compliant framework.
Based on its own analysis of 46 publicly available MSDS for marine cleaning products, August Race reports that approximately 70 per cent were classified as harmful to the marine environment.
The company extrapolates this to the issues surrounding operational pollution in the marine industry.
In a statement, August Race says that by applying this research to even modest usage assumptions, the scale becomes clear:
- ~30 million vessels in active use
- ~8 washes per year
- ~1 litre of product per wash
‘This equates to in excess of 160 million litres of potentially harmful chemicals entering the marine environment annually from routine cleaning operations alone’.
Digital platform enables traceability and compliance verification
Oceans Assured has been developed to directly respond to this challenge. It aims to provide a clear, practical pathway for marina and boatyard operators to reduce regulatory and insurance exposure, contractors to meet their obligations under MARPOL, distributors and retailers to confidently guide product selection, and vessel owners to make informed, responsible choices.
The pathway is supported by a transparent, digital compliance platform.
Oceans Assured backed by Innovate UK and sector experts
As part of the launch, August Race will be demonstrating an industry-first digital compliance system, including live batch-level traceability, attested LCA data, product and packaging specifications, and a global vessel compliance checker.
This initiative has also been supported by Innovate UK.
This week’s launch event will include the announcement of the global distributor network and host keynote contributions Holly Manvell, Mark (Robert) Smith and August Race’s Peter Wallbank.
Holly Manvell, founder of Clean Sailors and ReSail by Clean Sailors, is a recognised advocate for ocean conservation and circular economy innovation within the global sailing community.
A keen sailor with extensive experience at sea, Manvell founded Clean Sailors in 2020 with the aim of engaging sailors and water users in safeguarding the future of the ocean. Her work has since grown into an international movement focused on awareness, education and practical environmental action.
In 2021, she launched ReSail by Clean Sailors, a global initiative designed to extend the lifecycle of sail materials by connecting old sails with new uses. The platform has rapidly expanded and now operates across more than 45 drop-off locations in 15 countries, reflecting increasing demand for sustainable, circular solutions within the marine sector.
Mark (Robert) Smith of MolEndoTech, is a leading innovator in the field of water quality analysis.
Smith is at the forefront of advancing real-time environmental monitoring through Bactiquick, a rapid bacterial water testing solution capable of delivering immediate insights without the delays associated with traditional laboratory analysis.
The technology is gaining increasing international recognition, particularly in the United States, where its capabilities align closely with the principles of the US Clean Water Act and broader environmental monitoring requirements.
The launch will also detail the digital compliance platform.
The team is working closely with organisations such as The Yacht Harbour Association to help ensure that this message reaches operators at the point where it matters most – within marina environments.
To support this, August Race has created a downloadable Oceans Assured ‘We’re Onboard’ badge, which can be displayed by retailers, associations and operators to demonstrate alignment with the movement.
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