Project presentation

Bat Net Mar

A smart boat
for a plastic-free Mediterranean Sea

CNR-ISMed Palermo
At LUMSA University
Via F. Parlatore 65, Palermo

March 12, 2026
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Remotely: http://meet.google.com/rdr-poqm-xyv

Poster

Bat Net Mar (Bateaux technologiques pour le NETtoyage des fonds Marins) is a project focusing on technological innovation, cross-border cooperation and marine protection, funded by the INTERREG NEXT Italy–Tunisia 2021–2027 Programme and coordinated by CNR-ISMed. The project involves the construction of a small, technologically innovative boat for the removal of non-industrial anthropogenic waste from the seabed and water column in coastal areas popular with tourists in the municipalities of Monastir and Bizerte. The system will integrate on-board suction and screening technologies with Artificial Intelligence tools for the identification and classification of waste and marine species, contributing both to environmental protection and to the collection of scientific data on ecosystems.

The meeting marks the public launch of the project and the presentation of the partnership, its scientific objectives and the expected benefits in terms of environmental protection, marine ecosystem monitoring, the circular economy of plastics and cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean.

Coordinated and moderated by Angela Cuttitta (CNR-ISMed). Speakers: Tiziana Masullo (CNR-ISMed), coordination of works and presentation of the project; Andrea Ferrarella (FLAG Golfi di Castellammare e Carini); Paolo Ferlisi (Mediterraneo Consulting srl); Lamia Trabelsi (Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer – INSTM); Triki Seifeddine (Notre Grand Bleu – NGB); Mouna Rifi (National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia – INAT). On the role of associated partners: LUMSA University, APAL and ENSIT.

ORGANISED BY
CNR-ISMed in Palermo, as part of the Bat Net Mar project, INTERREG NEXT Italy-Tunisia Programme 2021-2027

PROJECT INFO Bat Net Mar (Bateaux technologiques pour le NETtoyage des fonds Marins)

ORGANISATIONAL CONTACT
Tiziana Masullo
CNR-ISMed in Palermo
Via Filippo Parlatore 65, 90145 Palermo
amministrazione.palermo@ismed.cnr.it