Cleaning the tide of marine debris

Established in 1966, Liverpool Water Witch are leaders in the design and build of innovative workboats and trash skimmers for waterway cleanup and debris retrieval worldwide.

Our oceans are filled with items that do not belong there including huge amounts of consumer plastics, making this the most widespread pollution problem facing the world today.

There is no area of the world left untouched by debris and it’s impact which is a threat to our marine environment, navigation, economy, wildlife, and ultimately, human health.

Jackie Caddick, Director of Water Witch said “Marine debris is one of the most pervasive pollution problems plaguing our waterways and oceans. Nets, drink bottles, sytrofoam, packaging and other plastic waste never actually degrades, it simply ultimately end up as micro-plastics which, as research has now discovered, often ends up in the food chain. We regularly retrieve plastic containers dating back decades, and with the use of single use plastics being used escalating year on year, it is becoming a global environmental tragedy.”

It is estimated up to 1 billion seabirds and marine mammals die each year from ingesting plastic bags, and whilst many Governments are under pressure to ban or introduce charges for plastic bags, an almost incalculable amount of plastic trash is already floating around in gyres and ‘garbage patches’ in our world’s oceans.

Floating debris and litter of all types is relatively easy to collect with our vessels in lakes, rivers, estuaries and near shore areas before it hits the ocean.

The main incentive to clean it up is when it impacts negatively in high profile waterfront developments, commercial harbours and prestigious tourist areas. This is where our efficient debris collection boats come in, literally skimming the floating litter out of the water.

Liverpool Water Witch offer a range of multi-purpose designs to be used for a wide variety of marine maintenance and emergency response duties including oil spill recovery and aquatic weed control.