Smiles were wide and excitement high as 21 students from Nuuk International Friskole today presented a very special plastic bottle to the crew of Royal Greenland’s trawler Kaassassuk in Nuuk. The bottle is equipped with GPS transmitters, handwritten messages from the students, and forms part of the Plastic in a Bottle project—a project designed to raise awareness and shed light on how plastic waste travels with ocean currents. The crew will release the bottle when they are 100 nautical miles off the coast between Nuuk and Sisimiut. Based on the data collected by the GPS, targeted efforts can eventually be made to reduce marine litter. 

"The ocean is the lifeblood of Greenland. It puts food on our tables, shapes our culture, and is part of our identity. We owe the ocean our deepest respect. That’s why it’s only natural for Royal Greenland to be part of ‘Plastic in a Bottle.’ We have funded a capsule and provided both trawlers and crew. We need to raise awareness, gather knowledge, and pave the way for change—for the ocean, for Greenland, and for future generations," says Bodil Marie Damgaard, EVP HR & Communication at Royal Greenland. 

Today’s handover was also attended by Arctic Ambassador Kenneth Høegh and Peter Borg, Minister for Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture, Self-Sufficiency, and Environment. 

Joint Effort 

 In addition to the handover in Nuuk, students in Sisimiut have also given a bottle to the crew of Royal Greenland’s trawler Avataq, which has released it north of Disko Island. 

The releases are organized by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Aarhus University, the Government of Greenland, and the NGO Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat, in collaboration with the PAME (Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment) working group and Royal Greenland. 

The releases in Greenland are supported by Royal Greenland, which has funded a capsule and provided trawlers and crew for the deployment. 

The two Greenlandic bottles are the 9th and 10th capsules launched by PAME since the project began in 2019.