TYPHOON PROJECT

The “Typhoon Project” was launched in 2019 with the aim of cleaning the entire Greek coastline and giving back the, clean now, shores to the country’s inhabitants and visitors. The driver of the project is the “Typhoon”, a modern Norwegian-built 72-meter long vessel that sails year-round, decontaminating the coasts and transporting the waste collected to recycling or proper disposal structures. The “Typhoon” features 5 speed boats to clean inaccessible shores and large containers, suitable for sorting recyclables collected during operations. Its team, consisting of Foundation executives and the vessel’s permanent staff members (over 30), collaborates with academic institutions to support research and understanding of the problem of marine pollution in the Mediterranean.
Besides the continuous removal and documentation of litter, the “Typhoon Project” also facilitates academic research. Thus, it collaborates with the Laboratory of Marine Geology and Physical Oceanography of the Department of Geology of the University of Patras, for the study of benthic litter in the Saronic and Thermaic Gulfs. It also works with the Marine Remote Sensing Group of the University of the Aegean, for the detection and mapping of plastics, making use of state-of-the-art technology. Finally, it daily monitors the quality of sea water during its sails, in collaboration with the University of Patras and the NGO iSea.
So far, from July 2019 to January 2023, the “Typhoon” has cleaned more than 2,800 shores, removing over 488,000 kg of litter. The “Typhoon Project” is a unique program that sails all year long and is dedicated to removing the waste that has remained on inaccessible shores for decades.