Monday, November 26

Island Aid's New Support Vessel


Message from Rick & Jane in Padang:

On September 12th & 13th 2007, three mega quakes bracketed the southern Mentawais generating a tsunami and causing widespread damage. Since then over 70 quakes of 4.5 or greater intensity have buffeted the area. Island Aid assisted aid deliveries via partner NGOs and Government agencies and later using Electric Lamb. Constrained by the lack of a suitable platform we stepped up our efforts to find an aid ship. In late September an associate came to us with a long and complex story about a purchase contract for a small ship that was in dispute. He offered Island Aid the chance to take over the contract for a 100GRT GRP vessel, the KM Lautan Megah (trans: Great Ocean).

KM Lautan Megah during sea trials last week off Luwuk.

Events have unfolded rapidly. Island Aid Director Chris Ranken flew to Jakarta and on the 8th of October he arrived in Luwuk in Sulawesi to secure copies of technical documents and to appraise the vessel's suitability. His report gave us the confidence to commit to sorting out the legal tangle surrounding the stalled purchase contract. On the 29th of October, Island Aid's lawyer, Pak Nasdion Chalid signed a new contract to purchase the Lautan Megah in Surabaya and we agreed to make the final payment owing to secure the vessel subject to inspection. Nasdion and I left for Luwuk on the 4th of November to inspect and sea trial the vessel.

We took possession on the 7th of November and Jane flew to Luwuk on the 11th to help with modifications. Jane and I arrived back in Padang on the 21st of November with renovation work well underway and Lautan Megah in seaworthy condition.

In just 3 months we have raised 25% of our target for funding the ship. Our target is to raise a total of US$200,000 to cover balance of purchase, modifications, delivery, docking and equipping the Lautan Megah for her new role.

Donors to date are:

- Talisman Energy- Jim Buckee
- Gerard & Loon Dijkstra

Jim has just retired from heading up Talisman Energy and we greatly value his advice and guidance. Gerard will be known to many in yachting circles in the US. He has been the lead consultant in the rebuilding of most of the early Americas Cup J Boats including Elizabeth Meyer's Endeavour II. Gerard's most recent commission was to design the stunning Maltese Falcon refit.

These donors and partners have made the acquisition of Lautan Megah possible and now we would like to cast our net wider and raise the balance of the funds. Our target is to find an additional 25% by the 26th of December, the anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that bought us together to form Electric Lamb Mission. The balance of 50% we propose to raise by mid February to fund the modification and equipping of the ship.

Island Aid (as we are now known) now faces an unprecedented situation.

Seismic Synopsis
Note the 2007 quake cluster added by me to one of Cal Tech's maps. This is yet to be confirmed by the team who are studying the Sumatra Plate area. The Siberut /Telos area (between the 2005 and 2007 events) is now very highly loaded and overdue to slip. Observation and GPS monitoring confirm an alarming rate of subsidence on Siberut's East coast coupled with large creep measurements.

In the face of general paralysis and even complacency displayed by responsible institutions and inertia among the populations that are now at greatest risk, we must do all we can to prepare and find specific solutions for many isolated island communities who now face real and present danger. In the wake of the recent Mentawai earthquakes and tsunami, a great deal of reconstruction work lies ahead. The Mentawai & Telos Islands have some of the worst health statistics in all of Indonesia.

Early British explorers named the largest island, Siberut, "The Isle of Goed Fortuin" because of the abundance of natural resources enjoyed by the islanders. Since discovery by European traders, the Mentawais & Telos rich timber resources have been exploited by a succession of colonial interests and local administrations but very little of the island's wealth has been reinvested in the form of infrastructure.

There are almost no roads, no power grid, two tiny airstrips, and telecommunications are limited to a few larger towns. Limited medical facilities are out of reach of the vast majority of the population. The Mentawai - Telos archipelago stretches for over 320 nm, has a land area 50% greater than Bali and is home to over 100,000 people. Our new mission is clear.

Aceh and Nias proved the effectiveness of our sea bridge concept and we can now apply what we learned to achieve what others are not equipped to attempt.

Our strategy to enploy a small fuel efficient ship and a fleet of beach landing boats remains unchanged. The proximity of the Mentawais and Telos Islands to mainland ports argues for a smaller more nimble ship than the Batavia and we believe we have found the ideal platform in Lautan Megah.

We must be flexible and keep administrative overheads to the minimum. We will now need to employ crew and key staff but we have a clear and viable plan to not only support the ship operation but to generate a surplus that can be used for community work in the region.

Our focus in modifying the new ship will be to accommodate medical and first responder teams as well as carry as much hand loaded aid as possible. Once we have established the service and have a settled cash flow, we will investigate other vessels for heavy cargo work. Lautan Megah's passenger accommodation space, deck cargo and fuel capacity are more than adequate for the role we envisage in the Mentawai/Telos area.

To make an online contribution please visit our website www.island-aid.org and click the 'donate' buttons.

Supporters open to a more 'hands-on' long term involvement may make a 'soft investment' in the company we will establish to own the Lautan Megah. Soft investors may be corporations, individuals or groups who are able to make a minimum commitment of US$20,000 for a 10 year period interest and dividend free. Our target is to raise $200,000 from 10 subscribers for shares in the ship-owning company.

This type of 'soft investment' is not a tax deductible donation and sponsors/soft investors will be offered the option of prominent logo placement on the ship and on our website. We will work with soft investors to publish a custom corporate responsibility page featuring Island Aid activities onboard the ship and in target communities. In this way corporations or business people can utilize advertising or corporate responsibility budgets at low long term cost while conserving their capital.

I am preparing a more detailed proposal for circulation to interested parties but please feel free to forward this message to anyone you think may be keen to be involved.

Warm regards

Rick & Jane in Padang

Electro-hydraulic variable pitch propellor controls, electro-hydraulic
Steering and autopilot station, radar, GPS, VHS, SSB. Built as a government
funded fisheries research vessel, no expense was spared.

Main engine is a Yanmah 6UA-UT 750 hp at 950 rpm
Cruise speed is 10.5knots at 650 rpm = 65 ltrs/hr total or 1.5 tons/day
(compare this with Batavia at 445ltrs/hr or 10.5 tons/day)

The hull is 30mm solid GRP. Decks are 40mm GRP/Balsa sandwich
All rails, funnel, vents and masts are stainless steel
Doors are watertight.

Ship builders in Luwuk installing new hardwood rails and bollards.

Carpenters working on the new convertible cargo/accommodation space

Island Aids new headquarters