Friendship, TaraTari and Fishermen of Kuakata test new fibreglass boat

In January 2010, Vice-President of Friendship International-France and Director of TaraTari, a sister concern of Friendship, visited Bangladesh and went to Kuakata to launch the first unsinkable fibreglass boat built for the fishermen of the Bay of Bengal.  The Kuakata boats have been designed especially with the sea-going fishermen in mind who often do not own their own boats, but have to spend large amounts on maintaining wooden boats which do not last long, and disappear into the sea during a big storm.  The new boats are made of fibreglass thus longer-lasting than wooden boats, require less maintenance, are much faster than wooden boats, goes on sails saving fuel costs, and most importantly, are unsinkable.

Yves Marre of TaraTari shipyard went to Kuakata in mid-February for further testing and discussion with fishermen groups, and Marc plans to come back in March of this year to continue his work with us in our mission to improve the socio-economic conditions of people of Bangladesh, especially those living in the vulnerable coastal and riverine areas of the country.