The partnership will enable The Ocean Cleanup to work towards tackling the world’s 1000 most polluting rivers

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 10 December2020 - The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit developingadvanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, and Konecranes, aworld-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, announced today that MHE-Demag is the chosen partner todesign, manufacture, and service The Ocean Cleanup's Interceptor to extractplastic from rivers before entering the ocean. This is an important step as thenon-profit organization prepares to tackle the world's 1000 most pollutingrivers.

Deploying Interceptorson a large scale is necessary to rapidly address the urgent problem of oceanplastic pollution. The Ocean Cleanup is partnering with MHE-Demag, a Konecranescompany, because of their expertise and worldwide footprint. Laying thegroundwork for global scaleup, Interceptors 005 and 006 are currently beingmanufactured simultaneously at MHE-Demag's facility in Klang, Malaysia and areexpected to be completed in May 2021. Moving forward, MHE-Demag will handleInterceptor manufacturing, installation, and maintenance; local partners willoversee operations, and The Ocean Cleanup will continue to act as thetechnology and best practices provider as well as lead business development forupcoming Interceptor projects.

Founder and CEO of TheOcean Cleanup, Boyan Slat remarked on this new partnership by saying, "At theend of a very challenging year, I am happy to see series production begin forthe Interceptor. This is a necessary step for us to tackle the global flow ofplastic pollution to our oceans at scale. I believe Konecranes is well-suitedfor the job and I look forward to seeing them build many more Interceptors inthe coming years. I am thankful for their commitment to clean oceans"

Karl Tilkorn, SeniorVice President, Industrial Cranes and Products, Asia Pacific said, "Headquarteredin Singapore, for 48 years MHE-Demag has built our brand through outstandingengineering capabilities with the best people in the industry. Our abilities todesign and manufacture engineered or customised solutions have won us manylandmark projects in the region, and we are servicing these projects untiltoday. We are proud to collaborate with The Ocean Cleanup on the design andmanufacturing of the Interceptor, in order to help the good cause of addressingriver pollution across the globe."

Konecranes is renownedfor its market-leading technology and service in material handling and liftingproducts. Its engineering and design expertise, along with its global service network,will enable the company to assemble and install Interceptors around the world.Through this global footprint, helped especially by the design andmanufacturing strengths of MHE-Demag, Konecranes can service and maintainInterceptors throughout their lifetime.

The Ocean Cleanup'sInterceptor was unveiled in late 2019 and there are currently three deployed inKlang, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Afourth Interceptor, in Vietnam, has been delayed for deployment and is expectedto be launched early in 2021. Over the last year and a half, The Ocean Cleanuphas used the insights from these pilot systems to understand and furtherdevelop the technology for more efficient mass production. These upgradesinclude changes to the conveyor, shuttle, dumpsters, and barge. Workingtogether with MHE-Demag, these changes have been incorporated into the 3rdgeneration design, which is the blueprint for the Interceptors beingmanufactured in 2020 and 2021.

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Supporting footage andfurther details can be found here.

Photos, illustrations,videos on The Ocean Cleanup can be found in the general media gallery. 

ABOUT THE OCEAN CLEANUP

The Ocean Cleanupdevelops advanced technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic. They aimto achieve this goal by taking a two-pronged approach: stemming the inflow viarivers and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter,The Ocean Cleanup is developing large scale systems to efficiently concentratethe plastic for periodic removal. This plastic will then be used to createdurable products and fund continued cleanup, making cleanup itself circular. In2019, the organization launched the other half to their solution, theInterceptor, to extract plastic in rivers before reaching the ocean. 

Founded in 2013 byBoyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs approximately 95 engineers andresearchers. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

ABOUT KONECRANES

Konecranes is aworld-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers,including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals.Konecranes provides productivity enhancing lifting solutions as well asservices for lifting equipment of all makes. In 2019, Group sales totaled EUR3.33 billion. Including MHE-Demag, the Group has around 17,000 employees in 50countries. Konecranes shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (symbol: KCR).

Konecranes acquiredDemag Cranes & Components in 2017 and fully acquired MHE-Demag in January2020.

ABOUT MHE-DEMAG

Established in 1972 andis based in Singapore, MHE-Demag has 11 factories and more than 70 service locationsthroughout Southeast Asia, including the largest crane manufacturing plant inthe region, in Bukit Raja, Malaysia.

MHE-Demag suppliesKonecranes, Demag and MHE branded industrial cranes and hoists, warehousingequipment such as lift trucks and dock levellers, aerial work platforms,building maintenance units for safe working at heights, compact constructionequipment, as well as automated car parking systems.

Our customisedsolutions serve a wide range of industries and customers from generalmanufacturing to aerospace. 

MHE-Demag is theoriginal service provider for Konecranes, Demag and MHE brands of equipment.

We provide specializedmaintenance services and spare parts for all types and makes of overheadcranes, hoists and industrial products.