SHIP CLEANING MARINE LITTER

[Anchor Lead]

Islands in Korea are plagued with trash and debris washing up on their shores. The biggest problem is that the garbage is not collected. To solve the issue, the Gyeongsangnam-do provincial government has built a ship to clean up marine litter.

[Pkg]

About 30 minutes by boat from Tongyeong in the south coast of Korea is Bijindo Island visited by roughly 100,000 tourists every year. But garbage is piled up along the coastal road on the island’s backside. Most of them are debris swept up during last year’s typhoon, ranging from tables and furniture pieces to refrigerators and tangled fishing nets. It is hard to even estimate the amount of garbage, much less clean them up. A ship carrying a garbage truck arrives at the island’s dock. This is the first ferry built exclusively for sea litter collection by Gyeongsangnam-do Province. The vessel sails to some 570 islands near Tongyeong, including 44 inhabited ones, to collect marine garbage and transport supplies. A customized boat is deployed to collect debris on the rocky shores of a deserted island.

[Soundbite] KIM JEONG-GYU(OCEAN MANAGEMENT DEPT., TONGYEONG CITY) : "Its first duty is to collect marine garbage. The ship can also collect domestic waste and deliver daily necessities to island residents."

These boats are a blessing to island residents who had trouble getting rid of domestic waste.

[Soundbite] KIM GYU-HYEON(OEHANG VILLAGE CHIEF) : "Marine waste would be collected quickly, making our village cleaner and eventually attracting more tourists."

The Gyeongsangnam-do provincial government plans to build two more garbage ships this year to reduce marine waste and step up trash collection.