Clean Oceans awarded Norwegian Innovation Cluster status
The Norwegian Clean Oceans cluster, whose members have expertise in dealing with oil spills, pollution from plastic, microplastics and the negative impact of algae, have been awarded Arena status within the Norwegian Innovation Clusters programme, an initiative to promote technology development led by Innovation Norway, the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (SIVA) and the Research Council of Norway.
Clean Oceans received the award in the latest annual announcement of new clusters and its new status represents recognition of its potential for taking oil spill prevention and response competencies to the next stage, said the new Cluster Manager for Clean Oceans, Eirik Langeland. Its new status as a cluster will help it to raise finance for new research and to hire its own employees.
“In Norway, we are already the world leaders for oil spill prevention and response,” added Christian Testman who is managing director of Oceans Visual and Chairman of the Board of the Norwegian Oil Spill Control Association. “The position as the world leader for systems to collect marine waste and plastic in the oceans has not yet been taken. We’re going to take it,” he declared. The name Clean Oceans was chosen because plastic and toxic algae are seen as growing threats to the world’s oceans where, until recently, oil pollution was seen as the main risk.
