Sustainable Sea Transport Back to the Future
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Sustainable Sea Transport Back to the Future
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Bula. My name is Colin Philp. The sea and sailing have always been central to my life. Since 2009, along with the rest of the crew of Fiji Islands Voyaging Society, I have been part of a voyage of re-discovery of our Fijian sailing heritage and our connection to the ocean that has taken us from one side of the Pacific to the other. Title “ “
O Jesus, be the canoe that keeps me straight,
be the outrigger that supports me in time of great temptation,
Let your spirit be my sail that carries me through each day,
as I journey steadfastly on the long voyage of life. Amen
Taken a from book written by Arch Bishop Winston Halapua “Waves of God’s Embrace
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As it customary on our Drua, Let us Pray
The most significant artifact in
the history of the Pacific is the
canoe. Our ancestors were
craftsmen of a stone-age culture
who successfully carried out
what is considered a
monumental human
achievement in the migration
and settlement over an awesome
expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
The Drua, Kalia, Alia
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In central Oceania, among the archipelagoes of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the related islands such as Rotuma, Futuna, Uvea, a vessel evolved that was arguably the most technologically advanced blue water ship of the pure-sail era. Called kalia in Tonga, ‘alia in Samoa and drua in Fiji, this was a battleship and trade vessel that used extensive knowledge of hydro and aero dynamics to create a new generation of sea-transport; fleets often numbering scores of ships of over 100’, capable of carrying payloads of several hundred warriors or many tonnes of cargo to windward at speeds up to 15 knots. Captain Cook described such vessels, as big as his own ship, sailing around the Endeavour “as if we were at anchor”.
The Drua is one of Fiji’s most recognisable icons – on coins, stamps, phone boxes, coats of arms, letterheads, adverts, t-shirts The Drua is arguably the pinnacle of traditional Pacific sailing design – combining Micronesia rig, the Fijian timber and Tongan boatbuilding skill. No full scale Drua has been built for 100+ years
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All good Tongans, Fijians and Samoans will argue until the end of time over who actually invented this remarkable vessel. But in the end the drua was a product of cross cultural collaboration that saw the combined strengths of Fijian, Tongan and Samoan knowledge of naval architecture, ship building and sailing brought together to create a product of superior capacity.
HOKULEA launched 1975
Hawaiian artist Herb Kane designed Hokulea, a 19-metre-long voyaging canoe.
Hokulea was built mostly with modern materials (plywood hulls and cloth sails).
However, it sailed like a traditional canoe.
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Since the ancient voyaging canoes and their navigators had disappeared from the Pacific, the obvious course was to experiment, to recreate the voyaging canoes and ways of navigating without instruments and then try them out at sea. In other words, the situation called for a nautical application of experimental archaeology, that branch of prehistory concerned with the reconstruction and testing of ancient artifacts and techniques. This experimental effort got underway in the mid-1960s, when David Lewis navigated his catamaran from Tahiti to New Zealand
July 12th, 2010 Mau Piailug, master navigator, dies on his home island of Satawal in
the Federated States of Micronesia, aged 78
The success of Mau's navigation sparked pride in the Hawaiian and Polynesian culture and a renaissance of voyaging, canoe building,
and non-instrument navigation that has continued to grow
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Mau Piailug, from the Micronesian island of Satawal in the state of Yap, was Hokule’a’s first navigator. He guided the canoe on a 2,300 mile voyage to Tahiti in 1976, the first voyage in over 600 years navigated without instruments on this ancestral Polynesian sea route.
In 2011 and 2012, 150 voyagers from Aotearoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomons, Tahiti, Tonga & Vanuatu set out on a voyage called
Te Mana O Te Moana” - The Spirit of the Ocean.
Voyaging has taught us that our ancestors were great people who lived in tune with nature. Today we are a testimony of their skills, confidence, courage and intelligence in building and sailing these
magnificent canoes, thousands of miles across a vast ocean to discover these islands.
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The Pacific Ocean links all of us, people and nations of this vast Ocean that covers a third of the earths surface. �On the island of Moorea, an ulu matua underlined this concept by recounting a tale about the octopus, fe’e, feke or kuita. Here, we were reminded of our family links with people all over the Pacific.
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We all know that our islands and our ocean are under siege today from threats of an unprecedented nature in human history. Pollution, population pressures, decreasing fossil fuel reserves, and the effects of climate change bringing rising sea-levels, global warming and acidification of the oceans, pose real and growing threats to all of us that live on small islands in this vast ocean.
Vision
Sustainable sail-powered sea transport
Empowering the Pacific: a celebration of traditional culture, knowledge & skills a responsible Pacific solution to issues of fuel availability/price & climate change a modern adaptation to issues of sustainable sea transport
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Once our ancestors sailed at will and in great numbers between the islands of this Ocean. The ocean was a bridge not a barrier. They had no need of fossil fuel to do so. Today this heritage has been all but lost. Our key objective is to restore and reinvigorate this knowledge for the benefit of our future generations.
Ships are to Oceania as cars, rail and trucks are to continents.
Globally, 90% of goods/resources transported by sea.
Sea transport globally produces more CO2 than Germany;
produces more sulphur dioxide than all global cars and trucks;
generates 27% of the world’s nitrogen oxide emissions.
Oceania is more reliant on imported fossil fuel than any other part of the world – 95% (99% if PNG & Fiji excluded).
Fuel prices continue to rise.
Sea transport is critical (and increasingly expensive) to daily life in most Pacific Island Countries.
Why Now
GOAL To establish the most sustainable sea trading fleet in the world:
a network of locally built, owned and operated sail-powered trading vessels, providing:
environmental;
social;
economic
cultural benefit
for current and future generations.
NOTE: All four criteria must be met if we are to be sustainable over time
Na Mataisau (1984) 6 yr old, 300 ton passenger/cargo ship used for island work in Fiji. Retrofitted with auxiliary sailing rig -ADB /Southampton University project. Results were impressive:
23 % fuel saving Incr stability = incr passenger comfort & safety, reduced engine wear, reduced roll. 30% overall engine wear reduction Feathering prop would = additional 30% saving Capable of pure sail
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The oil crisis of the late 1970s highlighted the critical importance of shipping and the vulnerability of Pacific communities to fossil fuel price and supply. There were a small number of critically important experiments that occurred in that period that offer valuable lessons for the situation we are in today
The research from Southampton University collected comprehensive wind and route data for all Fiji which is all still relevant today
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In related research, ADB also funded the same engineers working with the Fijian Government and experts from Southampton University to undertake the retrofitting of two small (~300 gt) passenger/cargo ships with auxiliary sail rigs. Again, my father designed the rigs and, as a young sail maker, I built the sails. These vessels performed above expectation, resulting in fuel savings of 23-30%, increased stability, increased passage speeds, and much reduced engine wear. The Investment Rate of Return on the US$40,000 cost of the retrofit of the first vessel was calculated at an impressive 123% on the most favourable routes and 30% on ‘average’ routes.
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In 1981 three UN agencies, combined resources to undertake a series of studies in the Ha’apai Group of Tonga. The principal objective was to investigate an energy efficient government-operated vessel. Having comprehensively mapped the need and the options available, the project moved toward an implementation stage in 1983. Securing funding proved difficult with donors citing “insufficient insight into the financial and technical feasibility of the project”. Yet without the funding, a formal feasibility study was not possible. In the end UNESCAP and ADB provided the resources to recruit prominent UK naval engineers to work with my father, Colin Philp, to undertake the necessary evaluations and designs.
KEY LESSONS • Vessels MUST be appropriate,
affordable, accessible
• MORE than just technology – ownership, management, whole of industry approach
• COLLABORATIVE approach – include ALL stakeholders from outset
• MUST be commercially viable
• HERITAGE is critical
Greenheart vessel – 500 tonne capacity
B9 vessel – 3000 tonne capacity
Village Based Sail/Solar powered Canoe 4-10 tonne capacity
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That study also mirrored our own recent findings in Fiji that a combination of small trading catamarans and energy efficient small sailing freighters are the most appropriate technology options. It is assumed the sharp fall in oil prices after 1985 was the cause of no further development work happening on this project. While we have the designs, the ships were never built.
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The issue is far wider than just introducing new technology. A whole of industry approach is needed including training local builders to construct and maintain vessels, training crews – including management and operational crews and sailors sailors, and considering the role of secondary industry players – such as insurance companies and industry regulators.
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A collaborative approach that includes all relevant stakeholders from the outset is needed. This includes government regulatory authorities, local communities, the existing shipping industry and researchers to monitor the effectiveness of the experiment. Simply showing up with a new boat and expecting all the necessary partners to fall into line is naïve, unrealistic and counter-productive.
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If the objective is to use sail technology then heritage is important. Those cultures that still maintain a living tradition of sail are far more likely to embrace new generation vessels than those who are two, three or more generations removed.
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We wish to communicate with government and regional agencies to lift the profile of the sustainable shipping agenda and seek to have it included in energy and transport policies and strategies where it is currently invisible. Vinaka vaka levu
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