Imagine 94% of all ocean trash is sitting on the seafloor where nobody can easily reach it — we're talking 26 to 66 million tons. Right now, the only way to pick it up is sending human divers down, which is slow, expensive, and dangerous. SeaClear built a team of underwater robots, surface boats, and drones that work together like a search-and-rescue crew: the drone spots litter from above, small underwater robots map what's down there, and collection robots grab everything using suction and grippers. They tested this in a real port in Hamburg and tourist waters near Dubrovnik.
Millions of tons of waste sit on the ocean floor, but current cleanup methods rely entirely on human divers — which is slow, dangerous, and prohibitively expensive for large-scale operations. Port authorities, coastal municipalities, and environmental service companies face mounting pressure to clean up marine environments but lack cost-effective tools to do it.
SeaClear built a coordinated fleet of autonomous underwater, surface, and aerial vehicles that map, classify, and collect seabed litter using suction-gripper manipulators. The system was demonstrated in two real-world pilots: a port cleaning scenario at Hamburg Port Authority and a tourism-area cleanup near Dubrovnik, both with formal assessment reports.
If you are a port authority dealing with seabed debris that disrupts operations and costs a fortune in diver crews — SeaClear developed an autonomous robot fleet that maps and collects underwater litter with a target 90% collection success rate at 70% lower cost than human divers. The system was demonstrated at Hamburg Port Authority, proving it works in real industrial harbor conditions.
If you are a coastal tourism operator losing visitors because of polluted beaches and underwater debris — SeaClear built a drone-and-robot system that autonomously detects and classifies underwater litter with 80% accuracy, then collects it. This was demonstrated in Dubrovnik's tourist waters with local tourism agency DUNEA, showing it can keep coastal areas clean without expensive dive teams.
If you are an environmental services company bidding on seabed cleanup contracts but struggling with the cost and risk of diver-based operations — SeaClear created autonomous underwater vehicles with suction-gripper manipulators that handle both small and large waste items. The system aims to cut cleanup costs by 70% compared to divers, which could transform your margins on marine remediation contracts.
SeaClear targets a 70% cost reduction compared to using human divers, according to the project objectives. The autonomous operation eliminates the need for expensive dive teams, specialized safety equipment, and the severe time limitations of human underwater work.
The system uses a coordinated fleet — aerial drones for wide-area scanning, inspection robots for detailed mapping, and collection robots for pickup — all tethered to a surface vessel. This modular fleet approach means you can add more robots to cover larger areas. It was tested at two real sites: Hamburg port and Dubrovnik coastal waters.
SeaClear was funded as a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under Horizon 2020, with TU Delft as coordinator. IP ownership typically rests with the consortium partners who developed each component. Licensing discussions would need to go through the consortium, particularly TU Delft and the SME hardware partner.
The project targets 80% success rate for detecting and classifying underwater litter, and 90% success rate for actually collecting it. These were the design goals validated through the two demonstration campaigns in Hamburg and Dubrovnik.
SeaClear completed two real-world demonstrators — one in a port environment (Hamburg Port Authority) and one in a tourism setting (Dubrovnik). Both included formal assessments. The technology has moved beyond lab testing but would likely need further engineering for full commercial deployment.
The collection robots use a combined suction-gripper manipulator designed to handle both small and large waste items on the seabed and in the water column. The system focuses on coastal areas where waste inflow is highest.
The system was developed with two public-sector end-users (Hamburg Port Authority and Dubrovnik tourism agency DUNEA) who operate under strict environmental regulations. Based on available project data, regulatory compliance was built into the demonstration scenarios.
The SeaClear consortium brings together 8 partners from 5 countries (Germany, France, Croatia, Netherlands, Romania), led by TU Delft — a top-tier technical university with strong robotics credentials. The mix includes 4 universities providing deep expertise in underwater robotics, sensing, and control, plus 1 research organization and 1 SME supplying proven hardware platforms. Critically for business credibility, the project includes two real end-users: Hamburg Port Authority (one of Europe's largest ports) and DUNEA (Dubrovnik's tourism development agency). The 12% industry ratio is typical for a research-heavy robotics project, but having paying customers already involved in testing is a strong signal for commercial potential.
The coordinator is Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. Contact their robotics or maritime technology department for licensing and partnership inquiries.
Want to explore how SeaClear's autonomous underwater cleanup technology could work for your port, marina, or coastal operation? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the research team and help assess fit for your specific needs.
