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The 12,500 plastic PET bottles reached Sydney

David de Rothschild : "We had great faith in the design and construction of Plastiki"

lundi 26 juillet 2010 – Redaction SSS [Source RP]

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After sailing more than 8,000 nautical miles and spending 128 days crossing the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, in a boat made of 12,500 plastic PET bottles, the Plastiki expedition and her crew have safely and successfully reached their planned destination of Sydney to cheers of welcome and support.


Arriving at Sydney Heads at 11.10am local time with a 12knot south south easterly breeze, the Plastiki triumphantly sailed into Sydney Harbour to cheers of welcome and support from a small spectator flotilla.. The historic expedition
was completed in four legs : San Francisco – Kiribati ‐ Western Samoa ‐ New Caledonia before reaching the Australian Coast (Mooloolaba) on Monday 19 July and continuing on to Sydney.

“It’s an incredible feeling to finally arrive in Sydney. We had great faith in the design and construction of Plastiki and while many people doubted we’d make it, we have proved that a boat made from plastic bottles can stand up to the
harsh conditions of the Pacific.” expedition leader, David de Rothschild said.
De Rothschild, 31 from the United Kingdom, paid tribute to his fellow adventurers, Jo Royle (Skipper), David Thomson (Co‐Skipper), Graham Hill (Founder of Treehugger.com), Olav Heyerdahl, Matthew Grey, Luca Babini (Photographer),
Vern Moen (Myoo Media Film maker), Max Jourdan and Singeli Agnew (National Geographic Film makers) for their skill and commitment during the voyage.

“Jo and the rest of the crew did a remarkable job sailing the Plastiki safely across the Pacific and it is due to their collective efforts that we’ve been able to raise global awareness of the issue of plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

If there’s waste, it’s badly designed in the first place, and we need to start taking a serious look at the way we produce and design every product we use in our lives,” De Rothschild said.

The Plastiki was officially welcomed by Sydney’s Deputy Lord Mayor, Phillip Black and the US Ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich when she docked at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour. Plastik will be on public display for the next month at the ANMM.

– Press info www.theplastiki.com

About the expedition

– The Plastiki Expedition was conceived and developed after Adventure Ecology founder ; David de Rothschild was
inspired by a UNEP report named ‘Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas’ in 2006 and Thor
Heyerdahl’s epic 1947 expedition, The Kon‐Tiki.
– A compelling and pioneering expedition was created with the goal to not only inform, but to educate the world
that waste is fundamentally inefficient design.
– Design, research, development, construction and sea trials took place in San Francisco.
– The Plastiki set sail from San Francisco on 20th March 2010.
– Crewed by six people at any one time –David de Rothschild (Expedition Leader), Jo Royle (Skipper), David
Thomson (Co‐Skipper), Graham Hill (Founder of Treehugger.com), Matthew Grey (Expedition Co‐ordinator), Luca
Babini (Photographer), Vern Moen (Myoo Media Film maker), Max Jourdan and Singeli Agnew (National
Geographic Film makers).
– Completed in four legs – San Francisco – Kiribati ‐Western Samoa ‐New Caledonia before reaching the Australian
Coast.
– Tens of millions of people are now aware of the Plastiki and her message. Since launch over 90 media interviews
have been conducted from the vessel, resulting in more than 300 print articles, 200 radio and TV broadcasts,
including the Oprah Winfrey Show. There are over 800,000 search terms relating to Plastiki and 52,200 related
images on Google.

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