Post-tsunami aid project: fishing boats for Sri Lanka
This
project aims to provide composites technology and training
to the people of Sri Lanka and India to help them replace
fishing boats lost in the tsunami disaster.
Reinforced Plastics is providing regular updates
on the progress of the project. Please check back here for
all the latest news.
News updates:
- Boat moulds shipped to Sri Lanka (9 March 2006) Latest news
- First boat in the water (15 August 2005)
- Hull mould under construction (8 February 2005)
- Project
launch (27
January 2005)
- 9 March 2006 -
Boat
moulds shipped to Sri Lanka
THE BOAT MOULDS and resin transfer moulding (RTM) machinery
are now on their way to Sri Lanka.
 |
Boat mould being loaded
for shipping. |
At the end of February the key boat moulds and the supporting
RTM machinery were shipped from Plastech’s manufacturing
centre in Gunnislake, Cornwall, UK, destined for the town
of Kinniya in the Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka. After
the equipment arrives a production unit will be established
by Relief Aid International and Plastech's Alan Harper will
help to commission the plant.
Once the production unit is set up, duplicate mould sets can
be produced allowing further boat building units to be set
up quickly.
“The significance of the donation of boat moulds, polyester
injection machines and allied accessories by Plastech and
the other members of the composites relief group cannot be
exaggerated in terms of its capacity to rebuild lives in Tsunami-affected
Kinniya, Sri Lanka,” says Alison Miculan, the CEO of
Relief Aid International. “The massive tidal wave that
struck the Eastern shore of Sri Lanka, not only destroyed
boats and nets that supported literally thousands of fisher-families,
but it realigned the ecosystem of fish habitats, making one-to-one
replacement of canoes and small fishing craft virtually useless.
This project has not only provided a means for manufacturing
low-cost day-fishing boats on location in Sri Lanka, but it
has introduced a new technology to the country that will restore
non-fishing livelihoods as well. This is one of the most effective
forms of sustainable renewal we have seen in Sri Lanka to
date.”
Plastech TT; www.plastech.co.uk
- 15 August 2005 -
First
boat in the water
THE
RELIEF offer from Plastech’s consortium has been identified
as an ideal project to bring new technology and practical
relief to the Trincomalee district, Kinniya region, Sri Lanka.
The production moulds are complete and the first boat was
tested in the UK on 12 August.
Mr Noor Nizam of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada,
an expatriate of this Sri Lankan region, is eager to arrange
shipment of the production machinery, tools and technology
very shortly.
The McMaster University group, under its own charitable banner
of Relief Aid International, has sent its own aid workers
to plan the building of a boat factory in the Kinniya region.
This will be equipped with Plastech's production equipment,
supported by the start-up material from the consortium members.
A large building to accommodate all the Plastech equipment,
production mould and raw materials has been leased in Kinniya
from 12 August by Relief Aid International and its local Community
Based Organization (CBO) in Kinniya. On the 23 August, 27
students and 4 personnel from McMaster University will fly
to Sri Lanka on a three-week field trip to work with local
people to rebuild their homes and set-up the pilot boat building
facility.
Plastech
is also helping the McMaster University group to design and
build another production cell to produce the more familiar
local Oru fishing craft. A 3 acre block of land in Kinniya
with water frontage has been allocated to the project at Crown
cost by the government authorities of Sri Lanka to construct
the larger production facility. It is believed that 8 months
since tsunami, less than 5% of destroyed boats of the Sri
Lankan East coast fishing communities have been replaced.
Plastech is seeking air transport so that production in the
new Sri Lankan boat yard can start as soon as possible.
“We are delighted that at least one world government
and community supported relief agency has realised the benefit
of the consortium's active pledges and Canada are supporting
the McMaster University’s Relief Aid International with
their own and their peoples charitable aid," says Plastech's
Alan Harper. "After all the publicity given to our project
in the UK it is strange that a country the other side of the
Atlantic has taken up the vision this sustainable charitable
programme offers. This project will contribute to the return
to livelihood of nearly 7500 fisher families and revitalize
the rural fishing industry of Kinniya and the Trincomalee
district which has been severely devastated by the 26 December
tsunami."
“Maybe our government or one of our aid charities might
find this now a good cause to spend a few thousand from the
reported £452 million to pay for this urgent transport
need,” suggests Harper.
- 24 March 2005 -
First mould near to commissioning
THE FIRST mould for this project could be ready for commissioning
early in April 2005. SeaRay Boats (Brunswick) has recently
joined the project with the aim of helping with the cost of
skilled labour to manufacture the first LRTM moulds.
It is hoped that government assistance may be offered to fly
the first complete moulded boat from the UK to Colombo in
Sri Lanka. Once delivered, sea trials will be carried out
prior to the production of the first 50 hulls. These hulls
and decks will initially be produced using the resin, glass
fibre and gel-coat that has been donated by the group of materials
suppliers involved in the project.
The companies supporting this project are:
- AOC, Axel, Brunswick, and Nidacore, from the USA;
- Scott Bader, Plastech, in the UK;
- Nord Composites, France;
- Saertex, South Africa; and
- Andos/Norac, Sweden.
Plastech technicians calibrate the hull thickness in preparation for the lamination of the final closed mould set using materials donated for this element of the programme by Nord Composites.
Plastech TT Ltd; www.plastech.co.uk
- 8 February
2005 -
Hull
mould under construction
PLASTECH TT is now moulding a
resin master for a basic Dory-style hull for this project.
The hull is 4.2 m long and has a surface area of 12 m2.
It will be used as the basis for the production of the first
Light RTM mould construction.
Plastech's Alan Harper says the company has already received
the resin donations promised from Nord Composite and Scott
Bader.
To help with the project, Plastech, based in Gunnislake, Cornwall,
UK, has just launched an appeal for two or more volunteers
to help with the mould pattern and mould building.
Initially they would work in the Gunnislake
Manufacturing and Technology Centre. They would also have
the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka to help with setting
up the system and training local workers.
Plastech TT Ltd;
www.plastech.co.uk
- 27 January 2005 -
Composite
companies help tsunami survivors build boats
 |
Fishing off the coast of
Sri Lanka. |
COMPOSITES companies around the world have joined forces
to help the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka to replace boats
destroyed by the tsunami which hit South East Asia on 26 December.
The group plans to bring the technology and skills to the
region to enable the rapid production of thousands of high
quality composite boats.
Alan Harper, managing director of Plastech TT, a UK company
specialising in equipment for closed mould processing, initiated
the project in January. In just four days he brought together
a group of composite suppliers which have pledged materials
to produce an initial 50 new fishing boats for the artisanal
fishermen of India and Sri Lanka. These initial pledges are
sufficient to produce over 100 000 Euros worth of fishing
boats.
The following is a list of the companies involved in the project, and the materials they are donating:
- AOC, USA - resins;
- Scott Bader, UK - gel-coats;
- Saertex, Germany /South Africa - glass reinforcements;
- Nord Composites, France - mould building resins;
- Axel, USA - mould release agents;
- Norac Andos, USA/Sweden - catalyst systems;
- Structiso/Nidacore, France/USA - core materials;and
- Plastech TT, UK - moulding equipment and moulds.
The group is currently consulting with the fishing communities
on the design required to replace their wooden catamarans.
Once the design has been finalised, operations will begin
rapidly. One set of production moulds, and masters for the
production of further moulds on site, will be produced using
the light resin transfer moulding (RTM) technique. These will
then be air freighted to the coastal disaster zones, together
with four of Plastech’s injection machines.
Plastech's Alan Harper says that the group is not intending
to replace the whole of the devastated fishing fleet, but
to offer practical help which will enable the survivors to
help themselves. The moulds, machines and materials, combined
with the latest technology and training, will enable local
people to begin the immediate production of 100 fishing craft
per month. This figure will rise to 400 per month once duplicate
mould sets are produced locally from the master patterns.
Using this closed moulding technology large numbers of boats
can be produced very quickly. It would not be possible to
make such large numbers by the traditional hand lay-up moulding
technique as the skilled workers required are not available.
The Light RTM technique is an environmentally friendly, clean
manufacturing method, with low wastage, and results in high
quality products. The boats will be built to last for more
than 20 years.
Reinforced Plastics © Copyright 2007, Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.