Marine pollution is a pressing issue which all boat owners, sailors and water lovers want addressed. It’s a large and complicated sprawl of pollution ranging from micro-plastics, through oil to sewage with many more culprits in the mix. With abandoned fibreglass boats on the rise, the top UK plastic polluter (seemingly Coca-Cola) sponsoring the 37th America’s Cup, the number of serious water pollution incidents in England ‘unacceptably high’ and continued reports of pollution incidents across the world, what can be done?
Alarming new figures show that the number of sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas by water companies more than doubled last year. The Environment Agency, the regulatory body that oversees environmental protection in England, has published its Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) data for 2023, which shows the frequency and duration of spills from storm […]
Companies that pollute the environment in the UK can now be hit with unlimited financial penalties from the Environment Agency. The previous £250,000 cap on Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) has been scrapped, and the range of offences they cover has been expanded. The news comes just three months after the government attempted to weaken river […]
Coca-Cola has become the Global Soft Drinks Partner of the 37th edition of the America’s Cup. The beverage giant, named by Surfers Against Sewage as the UK’s top plastic polluter for four years in a row, says the agreement is said to consolidate its commitment to sport and will enable it ‘to carry out initiatives […]
Three years ago MIN ran a series of articles by Luke Edney looking at the burgeoning problem of end-of-life fibreglass yachts and how to get rid of them responsibly. At the time Edney, communications manager for Gosport’s Boatbreakers, bemoaned the lack of interest in the issue, the lack of leadership, the lack of plans to […]
British marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has revealed the ‘Dirty Dozen’ companies responsible for over two thirds of branded pollution, with Coca Cola topping the list for the fourth year running. McDonald’s has overtaken PepsiCo in 2023 to secure second place, with one in 10 polluting items collected by citizen scientists during the […]
The number of serious water pollution incidents across England’s nine water and sewerage companies remains ‘unacceptably high’, the latest annual Environmental Performance Assessment report reveals. The annual report, published this year on Wednesday (12 July 2023) examines the performance of England’s water companies, taking into account environmental commitments such as pollution incidents and treatment work compliance. […]
Water and sewage companies have apologised for not acting quickly enough on sewage spills. As reported previously by Marine Industry News, Environment Agency figures earlier this year show a total of 301,091 sewage spills in 2022, an average of 824 a day. Now the industry says it plans to make the largest ever investment in […]
International non-profit project, Ocean Cleanup, has signed a new agreement with government departments to remove tonnes of plastic from the Cisadane River in Indonesia. The company is set to deploy its new Interceptor Original before the end of 2023. The agreement was signed by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Government of Tangerang […]
The UK has pledged to try and clean up its act, announcing a new £1.6 billion plan to reduce the unacceptable levels of pollution in its waterways. The news marks a victory for campaigners pushing to clean up rivers. According to data from The Environment Agency, over the course of 2020 and 2021, sewage was […]
A new scientific study has found that there are now 171 trillion pieces of plastic estimated to be floating in the world’s oceans. The data suggests this is an increase from an estimated concentration of 16 trillion pieces in 2005. Authors of the study, spearheaded by the non-profit 5 Gyres Institute and published in the […]
A luxury motor yacht which grounded on rocks and reef in Maui on Monday (20 February 2023) has leaked an unknown quantity of fuel into the ocean. The 94ft charter yacht, Nakoa, is stranded on the north side of the Honolua Bay, a popular surf spot and part of a state-administered marine life conservation district, […]