Marina Port de Mallorca in Spain has removed more than a ton of rubbish from its harbour seabed during its annual clean-up operation. In total, divers lifted 1,140kg of waste from the water.
The event in Palma de Mallorca was carried out with the support of STP Shipyard Palma’s professional diving team. Debris included supermarket trolleys, tyres and other everyday items dropped into the marina over the season.
“These clean-ups are a vital part of our duty as a marina,” said harbourmaster José María Marroig. “They allow us to keep the seabed in the best possible conditions while also raising awareness about the importance of taking care of the sea around us and the marina in particular,” he added.
Marina Port de Mallorca holds ISO 14001, EMAS and Blue Flag environmental certifications, as well as Spain’s Carbon Footprint Certificate. The management says these standards underpin an active policy of protection and continuous improvement in the marina’s day-to-day operations.
The clean-up is one strand of a wider environmental programme. Other measures include collaboration on research into invasive species in port environments, hosting the Sea Plastics scientific expedition and an educational project with Santa Magdalena Sofía School and Palma Aquarium, where students visit the marina to study the local marine ecosystem.
The scale and regularity of the Mallorca initiative raises a question for Ireland’s busy harbours and marinas. Could a structured, annual seabed clean-up become part of standard practice here?
In Howth, concerns have focused on delayed and urgently needed dredging works in the fishing and sailing harbour, where sediment build-up has been repeatedly highlighted by local interests.
At the same time, Irish ports are also trialling positive habitat projects. At Dun Laoghaire Marina, the Dublin Bay Oyster Revival project has recently expanded, with additional baskets installed and thousands of oysters now filtering the water column to help rebuild local reefs.
For now, Marina Port de Mallorca is presenting its clean-up and related projects as part of “responsible and sustainable management” of yachting facilities in the Balearic Islands. Whether similar, regular seabed operations can be embedded across Irish harbours remains an open question.
