Incheon implements South Korea's first satellite and drone-based marine debris system

Incheon Metropolitan City has introduced South Korea's first integrated marine environmental management system that connects satellite and drone technology to handle the entire process of detecting, collecting, and transporting marine debris.

As part of the ‘Smart Marine Village’ project, the city successfully used heavy-duty drones to transport approximately 4.4 tons of marine waste collected by residents from the coasts of Mungapdo and Soyado islands in Ongjin County to the specialized transport vessel ‘Ongjin Cheongjeong-ho’ on October 20. This technology addresses the challenge of cleaning coastal areas with steep cliffs or rocky terrain where manual labor and ships cannot easily reach.

The system utilizes satellite-based wide-area detection and precision drone surveys to identify debris clusters. Heavy-duty drones, capable of carrying up to 100kg per trip, then transport the waste to collection points. Following successful pilot programs, the city aims to collect a total of 30 tons of debris by the end of the year and plans to establish an ‘Incheon-style smart marine management standard model’ to be distributed to other coastal local governments.