With belts of all shapes and sizes rolling around the world, Habasit is a company that wears many different hats according to the needs of each customer.我们的博客经常共享nusual destinies of our conveyor belts, whether they are providing a more comfortable bed for a cow, or making a moving stage performance at the opera, but wherever they roll, one thing seems clear, our belts often appear when you least expect them. This was the case for one unlucky cat recently stranded at sea off the coast of Istanbul.

But to recount the rescue of this frantic feline on today’s blog, we must first begin seven years ago in the heart of Istanbul, a city with more than a million cats roaming its streets (and sometimes its seas). The most populous city in Turkey (in terms of humans), and one of the largest in the world, this crowded metropolis borders the Bosphorus Strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. With more than twenty rivers flowing through the region’s landscape, the cleanliness of the water is a priority for the people who live there.

A purr-fect solution to water pollution

2011年7月，两名当地工程师在海事业务中创立了EPS海洋和环保服务，这是一家迅速为清洁伊斯坦布尔水道的新解决方案而迅速设置的公司。在土耳其和世界各地提供石油和化学污染训练，他们也开始设计船，这可能导致自己的城市的水维护。虽然当时他们没有猫的猫，但他们很清楚每个位置都带来了自己独特的挑战。

“Sea surface clean-up is everyone’s problem,” explains co-founder Özer Özgeneci, “but it is also a tailor-made business. The conditions of the climate, the sea, even the working hours of a culture are factors which must be considered.”

With this in mind, Özer Özgeneci and his partner Oytun Ulutas sought the most efficient and effective methods for cleaning Istanbul’s waterways. After researching several belt companies, EPS chose Habasit as a partner for their unique boat design.

“你需要一家公司你可以依靠研究和发展，”Özgeneci说。“这是一开始，你必须采取最大的风险，所以与哈巴斯特有良好的联系很重要。”

EPS engineers found that Habasit’s flush grid plastic modular belt technology was a perfect fit for the job. Partially submerged off the back of the boat, the strong but lightweight belt removes the trash by conveying it on board while allowing the clean water to filter back into the sea.

Through the development of these boats, the municipality of Istanbul has been able to make water maintenance a service easily available to the public. There is even a city hotline accessible to anyone so that if litter is spotted in the water, no matter how small, a boat can be called to come and pick it up free of charge. Although the boats are designed for the clean-up of small debris, operators have found that they are capable of carrying much more, including floating televisions, dead fish and yes, perhaps you see where this is going, even alive felines.

When the crew of a clean-up boat spotted a cat swimming circles in the sea, they knew exactly what to do. Using a net, they were able to guide her to the conveyor belt of the boat where she rode up the runway to safety. It was an unprecedented example of the unexpected places Habasit belts appear, at land or sea, at the service of creatures of all shapes and sizes.