THE sponsors of the Southampton Boat Show have unveiled plans to create a pioneering vessel which would collect plastic from the ocean and recycle it as it goes.

TheYachtMarket revealed details of the Ocean Saviour project at the show.

Company founder Richard W. Roberts said he had been inspired "to do something practical" by David Attenborough's Blue Planet II programme which highlighted the level of plastic pollution killing marine life.

" It’s staggering to think that there is currently over five trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean which is having a huge detrimental impact on our ecosystem and the ocean’s biodiversity. It’s essential that we remove plastic before it breaks down into micro plastics and, through Ocean Saviour, we aim to help eradicate the ocean of this problem,” said Richard.

He contacted super naval architect Ricky Smith who has come up with the idea for a catamaran with two booms on either side which will sweep floating plastics into a conveyor which will bring the debris aboard.

Once collected the plastics will be chopped finely, milled and processed through an onboard plasma gasification facility which will destroy it completely with minimal atmospheric pollution. The product of this pioneering process will then be used to fuel the vessel, making it self-powering.

This waste to power system is already used aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier.

It's estimated that the Ocean Savour, which will be deployed in the Pacific, could pick up five tonnes of plastic per day.

The scheme has the support of David Jones from One Ocean and the University of Portsmouth, who said: "While we still need more schemes to tackle the problems of plastics at sources we also have to tackle the problem as it is now.

"We have got to turn the tap off but we also have to start mopping up the flood.

Attending the project's launch at the boat show ere top local sailors Dee Caffari and Mike Golding.

Dee skippered the yacht Turn the Tide on Plastic' in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race , which was fitted with an on-board lab to monitor seawater.

"Even in the remotest parts of the Southern Ocean micro plastics were present - this problem is everywhere," she said.

Richard said the scheme is likely to cost around £40m to get up and running and he will be seeking funding from governments and big business.

He told the Echo he would like to see vessels like the Ocean Saviour become as a common a sight on the seas as tugs.

"They should be going up and down our coastlines all the time - they could be the combine harvesters of the seas."