Would It Really Take 25 Years to Clean Up a Year’s Worth of Marine Waste?

Aging Marine Cleanup Vessels and Critically Insufficient Collection Capacity
Seo Samseok: "Urgent Need for New Cleanup Ships and Expanded National Funding"

The marine environment cleanup vessels, which had been anticipated as a solution to the increasingly severe problem of marine waste each year, have been found to be failing to fulfill their intended role. There are concerns that the response capability to marine pollution is effectively paralyzed due to the aging of these vessels and their severely insufficient collection capacity.

According to data titled "Status of Marine Environment Cleanup Vessel Operations," submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Assemblyman Seo Samseok of the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam, Muan, and Shinan, South Jeolla Province) on October 16, it was revealed that out of 17 cleanup vessels owned by local governments nationwide, as many as 5 vessels (approximately 30%) are either already past their legally defined service life or are in a seriously deteriorated state, soon to reach that limit.

In particular, in South Jeolla Province, the average age of 4 out of the 6 cleanup vessels in operation has reached 26 years, already exceeding the vessel lifespan of 25 years. The single cleanup vessel stationed in Busan is also 26 years old and considered outdated. Jeju, meanwhile, does not have a cleanup vessel at all, highlighting severe regional disparities and the issue of aging fleets.

The lack of collection capacity of the cleanup vessels is cited as an even more serious problem. While the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries estimates that about 145,000 tons of marine waste are generated annually, 13 out of the current 17 cleanup vessels-accounting for 76%-are unable to collect even 20 tons. The annual average collection per vessel is only 347 tons, and with the current equipment, it would take a staggering 25 years to collect the marine waste generated in a single year.

There is a growing call for the urgent construction of new vessels to replace the aging cleanup ships in order to preserve the marine environment and strengthen the capacity to respond to marine waste. Opinions have been raised that, since the current system requires the national and local governments to split the construction budget equally, there are clear limitations, and therefore, national funding support must be significantly expanded.

Assemblyman Seo stated, "Although the Lee Jaemyung administration has adopted 'Clean Seas for Korea' as a national policy task and is promoting marine environment improvement, the actual capacity for marine waste collection remains severely lacking. It is urgent to expand national funding to replace aging cleanup vessels and to build new large-scale cleanup ships. The marine waste issue should not be left solely to local governments; it is a matter for which the nation must take responsibility and respond directly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.