New Sargassum Vessel Designed in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — The new sargassum collection vessel showcased at President Claudia Sheinbaum’s press conference was designed by a Playa del Carmen company in collaboration with the Mexican Navy.

Dagoberto Ruiz, director of Dakatso, confirmed the collaboration, which lasted several months.

“It comes with software to document collection volumes and a conveyor belt system that can collect up to 600 tons in an eight-hour shift,” Ruiz said during a sargassum cleanup event held with Amexme and the Playa del Carmen City Council.

Unlike the Natans, the sargassum vessel currently in use, which requires manual unloading of collected seaweed, the new vessel features an automated removal system that requires almost no physical effort.

The system bags the biomass at the stern of the vessel and uses 15 belts to transfer the load directly to a dump truck.

Ruiz said the new vessel supports the federal government’s goal of increasing sargassum collection offshore or in shallow waters, so that only minimal amounts are removed from beaches.

“Good things are coming for the state; more equipment is on the way,” he said.

Although offshore collection is no longer Dakatso’s responsibility, Ruiz said the process could be made more efficient by working in waters further south, where sargassum originates. Its volume would be smaller there than if crews waited for it to reach the central and northern parts of the state, due to its reproduction cycle.