Great Pacific garbage patch swimmer forced to stop after nearly 3,000km

Storm-damaged support ship means Ben Lecomte, 50, has to divert to Hawaii

A French-American plastic pollution campaigner has given up his attempt to swim across the Pacific ocean after a storm broke the mainsail of his support ship, organisers have said.

Ben Lecomte had completed about 2,780km (1,500 nautical miles) of the 9,260km (5,000-nautical mile) journey. The trip was to take him through 1,600km of the "Great Pacific garbage patch", in an attempt to raise awareness of plastic pollution.