by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:39 PM ET, Wed August 21, 2019
To help combat the influx of Sargassum landing on beaches, the Mexican Navy is building four ships that will be sent to the shores of Quintana Roo when completed.
According to NITU.mx, the Secretariat of the Navy announced it would spend around $1.5 million to build four ships designed to clean up the seaweed at a rate of 80 tons per day, totaling 320 tons daily for all vessels.
The ships will be built in Shipyard No. 3 located at the Veracruz port of Coatzacoalcos, with the first vessel being delivered by October 2022 and the other three being ready over the following three months.
"These ships are a fundamental part of the Mexican government's strategy to contain the atypical phenomenon of sargassum and its characteristics make them ideal for navigation in the Mexican Caribbean," shipyard director Jorge Daniel Zamora said.
Zamora went on to say the shipyard will use 100 percent "Mexican hands and internationally recognized and certified quality" and contribute to the training for local labor and economic development in the region.
The ships will feature a five-ton crane, three conveyor belts for sargassum, a bag collection system of 1,300-plus pounds each and a washing system to avoid possible contamination where the sargassum will be deposited.
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