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Race For Water approaching the Panama Canal before linking up with Panama City and the SUEZ Group, our partner for this stopover

 

The Race For Water vessel, ambassador of the eponymous Foundation, is continuing its odyssey and is currently approaching the Panama Canal, before making for Panama City in the latter part of next week.
This first Pacific stopover will be punctuated by a collaboration with the SUEZ Group, which has had a presence in Central America for over 10 years. During this four-day partnership an extensive programme will be rolled out to raise awareness about preserving the oceans and the problems with processing plastic waste with the support of Panama City.

 

The Panama Canal, from the Atlantic to the Pacific
Having set sail from Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe on 28 January 2018, Race For Water, the catamaran powered by a mixture of different energies – wind, sunshine and hydrogen – is making for Panama and the gateway to the Pacific. This voyage will have enabled the crew to further test the efficiency of the boat’s kite propulsion in downwind conditions.
On 10 February, the catamaran Race For Water will enter the Canal and begin making her way up the Isthmus of Panama on Friday 16 February, once the usual regulatory formalities have been fulfilled. The 100% ecological vessel will reach the country’s capital and Fuerte Amador, her stopover port, late in the day on Sunday 18 February.

 

 

 

The SUEZ Group, Panama stopover partner from 20-28 February

Sharing a common vision, the Race For Water Foundation and the SUEZ Group have decided to join forces for the iconic passage along the Panama Canal. With extensive support from Panama City itself, this collaboration is coloured by their mutual conviction that there are solutions to combat plastic pollution and that the latter needs to be implemented on shore. Once it makes it into the oceans, the plastic deteriorates and coming up with a plan to collect it all becomes a somewhat utopian ideal. However, to ensure the effectiveness of these solutions, it is absolutely essential to raise awareness about the pollution and educate the local populations, and the children in particular.
With these objectives in mind, the SUEZ Group and the Race for Water Foundation are together organising a 4-day event called “RESIDUOS RECICLADOS, OCEANOS LIMPIOS” (Recycled waste, clean oceans). It is an approach aimed at opening a discussion on the challenges of preserving the oceans in a region of the Caribbean, which is experiencing a fast-developing economy, industry and tourism, but where less than 30% of waste is recycled.

Through conferences, a student seminar and an open day, this project intends to have regional scope thanks to input from both local and international speakers.

“We’re delighted at the prospect of being welcomed by and working with the Suez group in Panama, which is one of the major protagonists in waste management and has a global view of the problems affecting the whole of Central America”

Marco Simeoni, President of the Race For Water Foundation

 

Programme for the Race For Water vessel

  • from 9 to 15 February: Race For Water on stand-by at the entrance to the Panama Canal
  • from 16 February to 18 February: passage along the Panama Canal
  • from 18 to 28 February: Stopover in Fuerte Amador in Panama City,
  • 28 February: Set sail for Peru

Joint programme of activities with the SUEZ Group

  • Day 1 – 22 February: Work session on solid waste management in Panama City with university students.
  • Day 2 – 23 February: Press conference and exhibitions on the theme of the protection of the oceans in Panama and Colombia.
  • Day 3 – 24 February: Public open day – Tours of the boat following participation in a competition. + Conference at the Biomuseo
  • Day 4 – 25 February: Special in-house day for SUEZ’s associates to promote the protection of the oceans.

 

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