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Cleaner Seas Group is heading to sea as part of an important research trip with Aurora Expeditions, joining the M/V Douglas Mawson to monitor our onboard microfibre filtration systems in action.
The voyage will give our team the opportunity to see the ship’s laundry operations first-hand, observe how the filters are performing in a live expedition environment, and better understand the practical role filtration can play in reducing microfibre pollution from maritime laundry systems.
Cleaner Seas will be joined onboard by Nora, a scientific research student from the University of Bristol, who will accompany the voyage and support the research and monitoring work during the trip.
Aurora Expeditions operates in some of the world’s most remote and fragile ocean environments. That makes this partnership especially significant. By installing Cleaner Seas’ Indikon marine-grade microfibre filtration systems onboard the M/V Douglas Mawson, Aurora is taking direct action to capture microfibres from ship laundry before they can enter the ocean through greywater discharge.
A partnership built around action
The Cleaner Seas systems installed aboard the Douglas Mawson are designed to capture microfibres released during laundry cycles, helping to prevent them from entering the marine environment.
For Cleaner Seas, this trip is an important next step. It allows us to go beyond installation and gather insight from a working expedition vessel. Seeing the laundry systems in person, speaking with the teams operating them, and monitoring filter performance onboard will help us continue to refine how our technology supports ships, cruise operators and other marine businesses.
Sasha Buch, Sustainability Manager at Aurora Expeditions, said:
“Our expeditions take travellers to some of the most remote oceans on the planet, where we see firsthand how far human impact reaches. Microfibres from ship laundry are one of the less talked about sources of ocean pollution, and we believe that needs to change. Partnering with Cleaner Seas means we’re catching microfibres onboard before they enter the ocean, and we’re excited to have filters now installed on the M/V Douglas Mawson, with plans to roll them out across the rest of the fleet.”
Research at sea
During the trip, Nora will be able to observe the filtration systems in a real operational setting, helping to monitor the filters and understand how they perform within the daily demands of expedition ship laundry.
This kind of in-person research is vital. Laboratory testing and controlled environments are important, but there is no substitute for seeing technology working where it is needed most. Onboard insight helps answer practical questions: how the filters are used, how they fit into existing laundry workflows, how frequently they are monitored, and what the captured material can tell us about microfibre pollution at source.
The findings from the trip will help Cleaner Seas strengthen its work with the cruise and shipping sectors, where effective filtration needs to be reliable, practical and easy to integrate into existing systems.
Supporting cleaner expedition travel
The M/V Douglas Mawson is Aurora Expeditions’ newest purpose-built small ship, created for remote expedition travel and designed with sustainability and scientific discovery in mind. Its operation in some of the planet’s most remarkable marine environments makes it an ideal setting for this next stage of research and monitoring.
For Cleaner Seas, the partnership reflects the importance of stopping pollution at source. Capturing microfibres before they enter wastewater is one of the most direct ways to reduce their impact on the ocean.
The captured microfibres form part of Cleaner Seas Group’s wider closed-loop approach, where used filter cartridges can be collected, processed and recycled, helping to keep captured waste out of landfill and support the development of new sustainable materials.
Looking ahead
Aurora Expeditions has already indicated plans to extend the system across the rest of its fleet following the successful installation aboard the Douglas Mawson.
For Cleaner Seas, this research trip is another important step in demonstrating how microfibre filtration can work at scale in real marine environments. It is also a powerful example of what can happen when environmental technology, scientific research and responsible travel come together.
As expedition travel reaches some of the most remote waters on Earth, the solutions that protect those waters need to travel there too.
Cleaner Seas is proud to be working with Aurora Expeditions on practical action to reduce microfibre pollution from ship laundry and help protect the ocean at source.
