Four navy vessels that will gather sargassum from the waters off Quintana Roo are under construction in the port of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.

The first is expected to be ready in October.

The navy is building the 15-meter boats, which were designed by navy engineers, for 7.5 million pesos each.

A ramp at the front of each vessel will scoop up the sargassum, which will then be carried up by a conveyor belt and deposited for draining and bagging in 600-kilogram sacks.

Each boat will have a five-tonne crane for off-loading the sacks.

The navy has been leading the effort to combat sargassum on the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean since May.

The new sargassum-collecting vessels will be more efficient because they are specially designed to remove the macroalgae, Admiral Jorge Daniel Zamora Vuelvas said.

Most beaches in Quintana Roo are currently rated as moderate or low in terms of sargassum levels, a considerable decrease from just a few weeks ago.

Source: El Universal (sp), NotiCaribe (sp)