'Bottle ship' nears end of Pacific voyage

SYDNEY - A boat made from 12,500 plastic bottles will leave New Caledonia for Sydney this week on the final leg of a voyage across the Pacific to raise environmental awareness, organizers said Tuesday.

The Plastiki, inspired by the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft expedition, has already sailed 6,944 nautical miles (12,860 kilometers) in 108 days from San Francisco to the French Pacific territory, via the Line Islands and Western Samoa.

The voyage, to highlight the dangers of plastic pollution, over-fishing and climate change to the world's oceans, is expected to start its last and most challenging leg on Wednesday - if weather permits - after arriving in New Caledonia last week.