The Japan ocean shipping services company NYK https://www.nyk.com/english/news/2020/20200306_01.html on March 6, 2020 “… signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chiba Institute of Technology (CIT) to use a ship to collect and analyze microplastics in oceans around the world … NYK will collect microplastics during voyages by making use of its fleet of approximately 750 vessels in operation. CIT will use its cutting-edge research on microplastics to analyze the samples and create a world plastic waste map that shows the size, distribution concentration, age, etc. of microplastics … NYK and CIT began trials using three dry bulk carriers in March. Based on the results, the types of vessels will be expanded, and the survey area widened. After establishing a method of sampling, a worldwide microplastic map will be created by collecting big data of microplastics linked to sampling information such as date and time, location, meteorological data, etc …”