Developing the Debris Incinerator Vessel as a New Solution for Managing Marine Debris in Small Islands of Indonesia

Marine debris has been considered a global environmental issue, yet its impacts on each country are varied. Indonesia as an archipelagic country comprises thousands of islands and vast marine territory. The marine debris has threatened many sectors, such as marine endangered species protection, coastal ecosystem, and human livelihood (e.g., sea transportation, tourism, fisheries). The government of Indonesia has implemented various efforts to address this marine debris issue, which include applying recent methods and prototypes from global partners. Based on these approaches, we learn that there are three key success factors to clean marine debris in a very large area of Indonesia, i.e.: good understanding of marine debris dispersion in Indonesian water, sufficient budget, and good coordination among stakeholders. Hence, the Marine Research Centre developed a prototype vessel design in 2021 to manage marine debris, particularly surround small islands, which in Indonesia is called “Kapal Insinerator Sampah” or Debris Incinerator Vessel (DIV). This vessel will focus on managing the waste generated by local inhabitants and marine debris stranded on small islands.