Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, has awarded an Approval in Principle (AiP) to the MANTA, a pioneering vessel offering solutions for collecting and repurposing floating plastic waste in areas of high marine litter concentration, in the coastal waters of most affected countries and near the estuaries of major rivers, according to the company's release.
This unique vessel, due to set sail at the end of 2025, was developed by MANTA INNOVATION, the integrated engineering design office of the NGO The SeaCleaners, with the support of naval architects at SHIP-ST and LMG MARIN.
A 56m long, 26m wide and 62m high sailing ship, the MANTA will be equipped with an on-board factory including a waste-to-energy conversion unit. The vessel will be the first concentrated ecology and technology factory ship capable of collecting and processing floating ocean waste en masse before it gets fragmented, starts to drift and penetrates the marine ecosystem in the long term.
A beacon of Smart and Green Ship, the MANTA will be powered by a combination of renewable energy technologies to minimise its carbon footprint and achieve 50 to 75% energy autonomy. It will also serve as a state-of-the-art scientific laboratory for the observation, analysis and understanding of ocean plastic pollution and as an educational platform open to the public.
Bureau Veritas is one of the world's leaders in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has close to 80,000 employees located in nearly 1,600 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its 400,000 clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the CAC 40 ESG, CAC Next 20 and SBF 120 indices.