Il 94% of marine litter lies on the ocean floorThe rest floats on the surface or drifts in the currents. For decades, we've cleaned what we can see, ignoring the hidden ninety-four percent, now SeaClear. 2.0 has overturned the approachSix autonomous AI-powered robots map, identify, and collect plastic up to 100 meters deep in the Mediterranean.
The system, in its first version, has already been operational since 2023 (did you know?) financed with 9 million by the European Union, and has already demonstrated an 80% success rate in waste removalIt costs 70% less than divers and doesn't put human lives at risk. The fleet includes aerial drones, autonomous surface boats, and underwater robots with intelligent grippers, all coordinated by algorithms that distinguish a piece of plastic from a piece of algae. And now let me introduce you to the whole mess.
The team: six robots, six specializations
Il SeaHawk It's the first in the chain. An aerial drone that flies over the surface, mapping the areas with the highest concentrations of floating debris. It records coordinates, takes high-resolution images, and transmits everything to the system's brain.
That brain is called SeaCAT USV, an unmanned surface vehicle that can operate autonomously or be controlled remotely. It coordinates the other robots, deciding who goes where and when. It's a bit like a conductor orchestrating different instruments. When it detects a critical area, it dispatches its underwater colleagues.
Il Mini TORTUGA It's an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) that maps the seabed. Sonar, cameras, sensors: it scans every square meter and reports the location of submerged debris. It doesn't collect it, it catalogs it. It sends the coordinates to the Smart Grapple.
Lo Smart Grapple It's the hand of the SeaClear system. Connected to the SeaCAT, it moves autonomously underwater thanks to dedicated thrusters. It grasps objects weighing up to 7 kg (the volume of two two-liter bottles) and brings them to the surface. The gripper is designed to avoid harming marine life: tactile sensors regulate the pressure, and a honeycomb structure allows small organisms to escape.
Il SeaBee It works in pairs: two mini-robots drag a net between them, collecting floating debris.
When the SeaCAT has a full hold, the family's "niño" enters the scene. His name is Sea Dragon: smaller and lighter, it attaches to the SeaCAT, collects the cargo and sets sail autonomously to pre-established unloading points on the coast.
Marseille as a testing ground
A September 2025, Marseille hosted One of the first operational demonstrations of the complete system. The French city is a perfect case study: densely populated, intense tourism, and inadequate waste management. The result? Tons of plastic from the Rhône River ending up in the sea, rental bikes and e-scooters thrown into the water due to vandalism. Waste accumulating in the port's dead ends.
SeaClear didn't just test the robots. It organized workshops with local stakeholders to identify critical points, analyze urban waste flows, and propose changes to municipal policies. A holistic approach that combines technology and systemic change. Sure, robots remove plastic, but the real goal is to understand why that plastic ends up there.
SeaClear: Fewer divers, more efficiency
Use divers to clean the seabed It's expensive, dangerous, and above all slow. It requires limited dive time, requires decompression, and has risks related to pressure and visibility. An operation that at 16 meters of depth becomes economically unsustainable.
SeaClear 2.0 cuts costs by 70% and eliminates human risks. The robots work continuously, never tire, and don't need breaks. AI makes a difference in recognition: the algorithms are trained on thousands of images to distinguish a plastic bottle from a fish, an abandoned net from marine vegetation. Accuracy is 80%, as mentioned, but this is set to improve as data accumulates.
What happens to SeaClear after 2026?
The SeaClear 2.0 project will be completed in December 2026, but the architecture is already ready for commercial use. Marinas, protected environmental sites, offshore installations: anyone with a submerged waste problem can adopt the system. There is significant interest. Yves Chardard di SubSea Tech (French partner of the SeaClear project) says it clearly: “We have to go faster, heavier, deeper”.
The next generation of SeaClear will aim to increase cargo capacity, extend operating depth beyond 100 meters, and integrate onboard recycling systems. Like other similar projects, the goal is not just to collect plastic, but to trace its origin, understand accumulation patterns, and inform public policy.
The consortium involves 13 partners from 9 countries: research institutes, technology companies, and environmental organizations. This alliance combines expertise in marine robotics, AI, waste management, and community engagement. Because robots clean, but communities need to stop making a mess.
SeaClear demonstrates that the underwater plastic problem has a technical solution. Scalable, economically sustainable, and already working. What's missing isn't the technology.
It's the will to finance it on a large scale and the collective discipline to reduce what ends up in the sea at the source. The six robots are doing their job. Are we doing ours?
