Race for Water — an offshore trimaran on a 300-day odyssey around the world to study plastics in the ocean — arrived in Bermuda yesterday at the conclusion of a turbulent trip, according to their online log and at the end of the second leg of their journey.

The Race for Water Odyssey team of scientists want to better understand the oceans, the impact of plastics on the marine environment, as well as measure levels of pollution in collaboration with government institutions.

The 70ft offshore vessel, which began its voyage in Bordeaux, France, sailed from the Azores before tying up at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess’s new marina. The scientists and crew will stay at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. After observing the arrival of the craft, hotel general manager Allan Trew said: “This is one of the very largest vessels we’ve had come in to date, and we’re delighted to have the crew come and stay with us.”

The trimaran will be in Bermuda for the next six days.

“We will host them while they are here,” he said.

Marco Simeoni, who is the expedition leader and founder of the Race for Water Foundation, explained the purpose of the mission.

After stepping on shore yesterday, he said: “The goal of the Odyssey is to pass through the five vortexes where the vorticity pushes together the plastics — in the vortex of the North Atlantic, there is the Azores Islands and Bermuda at its centre.”

They will visit 12 islands in five vortexes.

He said their goal in Bermuda is to talk to individuals as well as scientists and government officials about plastics, and visit beaches to collect samples of pollutants, both small micro particles and large pieces as well. The samples will be sent back to a laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, which has been ranked in the top five worldwide for engineering and technology. They are also working with Duke University in the United States.

In addition, they are using drones to record the coastal areas.

Deployment of four scientific ocean observation floats as part of the UNESCO-IOC GOOS project are also among their aims.

Race for Water will also visit major centres, such as New York, where they will address the United Nations about the issue. Other cities Race for Water will visit include Shanghai, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro.

Mr Simeoni explained the journey of plastics from the land to the centre of the vortexes takes between five and ten years. He said that the plastics break down into tiny particles and are ingested by fish in the ocean. “And you will have that on your plate,” he warned. “This is a big problem — 10 per cent of annual production of plastics ends up in the ocean.

“The oceans are becoming a big trash can,” he said. “The volume is 24 million tons every year ending in the oceans.”

The Race for Water website states they want to create a “network of knowledge” on plastic pollution, to allow an in-depth study on the subject and to propose concrete solutions.

A member of the Swiss-French Race for Water Odyssey team, Kim Van Arkel, an oceanographer who specialises in marine ecology, said in addition to the scientific aspects of the expedition, they want to raise awareness about the issue. “We want to share our information with the public,” she said.

“We want to connect all the islands together, because they have debris from the continents.”

Mr Trew said the interest of the hotel was piqued in the Race for Water Odyssey project as Fairmont has had a green programme since 1990. “Not enough people are aware of their impact on the environment,” he said. “The Fairmont Hotel, for a long time, has worked with reputable people and made responsible decisions environmentally; our menus have locally sourced and there are organic food choices. We’ve aligned ourselves with the sea food watch organisations.” He said among their initiatives have been to remove Chilean sea bass, blue fin tuna and shark fins from their menus.

Yachts arriving at the marina from other nations can also arrange to clear immigration and customs at the marina, and the Race for Water Odyssey team took advantage of the option.

Mr Trew said: “Customs have allowed us to have a Customs room here at the marina, so the boats can do Customs clearance here on site. The 60-berth marina is designed for pleasure craft, tournament fishing vessels and mega yachts. “It’s the only full-service marina in Bermuda with integrated pump-out facilities, custom electrical service and water distribution.”

Useful wesbite: http://www.raceforwater.com/sections/map