Our main focus is the recovery of marine ecosystems down to the depths of the sea.
Like so many, we have also seen over the years that at the end of many environmental conferences, once again, a half-hearted compromise was passed. Thousands of delegates recently traveled to Glasgow and Sharm El Seikh and the results were more than sobering, apart from the immense costs of such conferences. There are now countless papers by scientists on all pressing environmental problems - but little or no conclusions are drawn from them. There is no real political will and everything is subordinated to economic growth. There's been enough talk - it's time to act!
This is one of the reasons why we decided to do something ourselves. We are currently around 120 people from different countries of origin. Pupils, students, employees, workers, specialists in the fields of robotics, AI, shipbuilding, fisheries, biology and oceanography, and entrepreneurs who have already successfully founded organizations. We are all united by the goal of stopping the increasingly unbearable pollution of our nature.
We are not in competition with anyone and try to complement the valuable work of other NGOs as seamlessly as possible. The sheer extent of the pollution alone would probably justify a tenfold increase in all of our efforts today. However, we would like to proceed as carefully as possible, because using clean-up activities does not always make sense. For example, when new flora and fauna have already accumulated in a deep sea basin and a new small ecosystem is created. This is precisely why we want to work with independent universities and researchers.
Unfortunately, we cannot focus on all problems. Saving the rainforests is of course also important to us. But our hands are currently tied due to local politics and the machinations of illegal timber traders. And as a new organization, we are not yet a permanent fixture so that we could exert influence. But we are also looking for solutions here, which we will put together in our think tank. Ultimately, we all only want one thing - to stop the destruction of our nature and thus the future of our children.
The founders
WHAT WE DO
We carry out major projects with the latest technology - and develop special ones like ROVs, robots and drones for our commitment
Unfortunately, the efforts of many NGOs have so far not been enough to even come close to eliminating the garbage in the oceans. Because there is a lot more added every day! Of course, the best thing would be to get all companies, countries and politicians to ban plastic tomorrow. At the very least, every company should be obliged to take back and reprocess new products after they have expired. This must continue to be tried by all means. But who among us still believes in a short-term solution? In the most optimistic case, we will have increasing numbers of plastic waste in terms of marine pollution for decades to come. And it's not just about plastic waste, but also about large quantities of fishing nets that, for whatever reason, float in the sea and eventually sink to the bottom. Likewise, more oil and toxins are released into the sea each year from shipping than from one-off disasters, when yet another oil tanker hits a reef and bursts. You could build these tankers much safer today. But that costs a lot of money.
We have therefore decided to take massive action against this pollution. We develop highly scalable solutions to combat pollution in our oceans, from depths of up to several hundred meters. We are also developing mini-robots to detect foreign objects at a depth of several thousand metres. If the technology is already available, we will buy it and adapt it for our purposes together with the partner company.
It starts with a small solution called Ocean Football. This is a small submarine that keeps the net to be towed at a stable sea depth. The network, the Ocean Tube, is being developed together with marine biologists and oceanographers from various universities. For us it is important that we do not affect the flora and fauna and reduce them to a minimum. The system is so scalable that, in principle, smaller ships and yachts could also be used to remove garbage from the sea. And here we come to one of the most obvious challenges. We will probably also need hundreds of such devices, ships and nets, and thousands of helpers, to stand a chance against this immense amount of garbage. But if we never tackle this, the pollution will get worse every year. Today there is no alternative but to solve this problem. Our own nets are made from natural and degradable fibers. We plan to use them in countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia as soon as possible. Ideally, this will kickstart a new industry to create hundreds of new jobs.
After the Ocean Football we work on the Ocean Crawler. This submarine will be fully automatic and equipped with AI-controlled software in order to systematically drive through previously defined sea quadrants and remove the garbage. A powerful electric motor or, if possible, a hydrogen drive - coupled with one or more electric motors for control - should be used as the drive. We will optionally equip this vehicle with a cabin so that it can also be used as a deep-sea vehicle and can accommodate two passengers. This expands the area of application and we could become profitable with it in the medium term.
The ultimate vision is the Ocean Hoover, which is over 200 meters long. This device no longer requires an ocean tube or net. It will first collect the garbage like in a giant tube and if the limit is reached, it will balloon the garbage to the sea surface. A "harvester" will pick up the balloons and transport them to shore.
So-called hydrocopters are used to ensure that everything runs smoothly and for maintenance. In order to detect oil and toxic substances, we plan to supplement the drones available on the market with additional measuring devices and special software. The drones will be able to track merchant ships over long distances. If pollutants are released, a report is then sent to the nearest coast guard. The potential use of these new devices alone should drastically reduce the illegal capping of toxins.
Vision and Mission
Ocean Quest represents a Group of Entrepreneurs, Philanthropists, Environmentalists, Robotics & AI Experts and Students, who are committed to keep the oceans healthy, reforest the world's forests to absorb CO2 in rainforests and coastal areas, and to look for new ways to feed the world’s population and to overcome water scarcity by developing new ways for desalination.
The organization currently has about 65 experts and almost 400 members, growing by 1000% over last year, and is organized as a global, adaptive organization, which is a combination of a Holacracy and a Podular (Cell) Organization. We are based in Liechtenstein (HQ), Switzerland and numerous countries in Europe, Mid-East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Our mission is to use Robots, Drones and AI to be much more effective than ever before. We are venturing into areas that were previously impossible! The development of undersea Spheres will enable Ocean Farming at depths up to 120 meters, with artificial light.
Our vision is to get additional food for millions of people underwater, to build human habitats, so called Ocean villages, with own power, oxygen supply and water. Our biggest project in 2025 will be a new kelp forest between Swakopmund, Namibia, and Cape Town, SA, which will absorb 1.5 Million tons of C02!
What does science say
There are now a number of different papers by biologists, oceanographers and scientists from other faculties..
waste avoidance
It should be clear to everyone that the best solution of all would be to avoid plastic. Just like the careful use of water or all other resources such as the rainforest. We just don't believe in it. The last few decades have shown that even the great efforts of many have been thwarted by the hunger for power and greed for money. Unfortunately, this has led to many people not even trying. We want to change that again.
Where is the plastic found?
Contrary to many assumptions - unfortunately only less than 5% of the plastic can be found on the sea surface. The rest are in the deep sea, on the sea floor and near the coast at depths of up to a few hundred meters, which makes recovery considerably more difficult. A reason for us to include the coastal regions in our project. This also applies to the estuaries of large rivers. Because only a small number of rivers are responsible for a large part of the garbage that ends up in our seas.
microplastics
For some time now, reports have been causing horror that all of us are now ingesting plastic and microplastics with our food. But how does this happen? How can it be that plastic can be detected in the body even of indigenous people in remote rainforests? The tides and the crashing waves near the coast are responsible for the formation of a large part of the microplastics. Likewise, UV radiation makes plastic brittle and fragile.
project phases
1
Satellite evaluations, design studies (CAD)
Before the deployment, it is important to determine the best location. Numerous satellite images have probably given us enough opportunities for the first 10 years.
For our Ocean Bots, we first had CAD drawings made or used design studies. Some were built as models or 3D printed - others are prototyped and tested. For example our first Minu submarine, the Ocean Football, is a simple submarine, but with all necessary features for its mission.
2
RC Mini Submarines, Specialty Ships & Buggies
You can already do a lot with *classic" technology. RC (remote control) control is sufficient for simple devices on land and water. With robotic arms and the "Virtual Reality" glasses that are available today, you can also free dangerous coastal regions from garbage.
For beaches with a lot of garbage, we redesign a truck-sized buggy, which is equipped with balloon tires. A special collection mechanism then takes the rubbish inside the buggy.
3
AI controlled robots and drones with electric drive
The pinnacle of today's technology is certainly AI-controlled robots. In our case, this means the development of a self-steering submarine, which is equipped with electric motors near the coast. A supply ship, which can also be used as a "harvester* (Editor's note: "of the garbage") allows the use with large ranges.
These types of underwater devices are certainly built as multi-purpose devices to expand the range of uses. It should also be possible, similar to the car manufacturer "Tesla" to go into mass production.
4
Hyperscale hydrogen-powered submarines
More of a vision at the moment is the creation of an "Ocean Hoover", around 200 meters long and 40 meters wide, which would do without an escort ship. The sheer size allows the collection of more than 200,000 cubic meters of waste.
Technically feasible, we just don't have the money to do it. We will limit ourselves to what is financially feasible for the first few years and hope for investors.
For the simple exploration and investigation of the coastal seabed, we use ROVs available on the market and combine the technology for controlling the robots with virtual reality glasses. The picture shows an ROV from Chasing and VR glasses from Vario. The pilot experiences the environment as if you were diving yourself.
All VR controls for the very different robots are currently being adjusted by hand by our electronics experts . If you are interested, please contact our robotics company.
Our Projects
We need support in almost all areas - AI, robotics, electric and hydrogen drives. As well as in the areas of satellite analysis, logistics, submarine construction. But also in marketing with Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!
Our main focus is the removal of garbage, toxins, ghost nets in the depths of the sea, inaccessible coastal regions and river estuaries. Our special commitment is to Africa, Asia and Latin America, which are the areas most in need of support.
We are now committed to CO2 absorption through the cultivation of large kelp forests - as well as ocean farming for food production
Our Tools
Together with the robotics company Nautilus 2.0, we are developing high-performance underwater vehicles that are powered by hydrogen and electric motors and equipped with AI and work more effectively than anything that has come before. Nets - we call them Ocean Hoovers - fill up with rubbish and are transported to the surface by balloons as soon as they are full. A harvester, a harvesting ship, e.g. a fishing boat as an escort ship, then picks them up. Drones are used to explore the depths of the sea.