The quest for sustainable sea transport has been on the agendas of Blue Pacific nations for a very long time. From the beginnings of human settlement of the vast Pacific, in fact.

Drawn from rich history, and looking to the future and its mounting challenges of which to contend, the Pacific ship and boat building industry brings more than the bounty of economic opportunity. It permeates wide-reaching and solutions for some of the region’s deepest issues.

To the present, and the National Development Plans of many island nations specifically list the rapid development sustainable shipping as a priority area including the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

These national goals are further underscored by the ‘Level of Ambition’ statement in the Technology and Connectivity Thematic Area within the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent – one of the important outcomes of the 2022 Pacific Islands Forum: “All Pacific peoples benefit from their access to affordable, safe, and reliable land, air, and sea transport”

In the paper Sustainable Sea Transport for the Pacific Islands: The Obvious Way Forward, published by the Australian National University, Peter Nuttall, research fellow at the Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development, University of the South Pacific, outlined the issues in their broader scale: “Sea transport is the lifeline of Pacific countries and communities, moving the majority of people, goods and resources. It is crucial for trade, economic development and impacts upon virtually every development initiative. Yet for many Pacific countries, existing maritime transport services are increasingly unaffordable and unsustainable. Ships are often old, poorly maintained and inefficient, and there is a vicious cycle of old ships being replaced with old ships. Fossil fuel is often the largest single operating cost for shipping operators. Combined with narrow reef passages and small loads, many routes are unviable and uneconomic. Predicted near-future increases in both fuel and compliance costs means that this scenario is likely to get worse over time, meaning that governments and aid donors will be increasingly called upon to subsidise or service these routes.”

Thanks to innovative designs drawn from within the Pacific’s own well of knowledge, practical solutions, such as CargoProa, are on the horizon. The prototype work of New Zealand-born, Australia-based Rob Denney, and with the support of the Fiji government and the University of the South Pacific, CargoProa is an indigenous solution may be one of the answers to this long-standing challenge.

The CargoProa prototype project was officially launched by the Prime Ministers of Fiji and Tonga and high-ranking officials from other Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries and international representatives on 19 July 2022. In his speech at the launch, Fijian Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama indicated his government’s intention to create the ‘Silicon Valley’ of green shipping in the Pacific.

Says Denney, “The event was about the future of green shipping, effects of climate change, acknowledgement of the historical impact of the Pacific on sailing, what could be done and what was being done.  The CargoProa was simply evidence of doing something rather than talking about it.”  

The CargoProa range is a modern re-creation of the ‘proa’, a multihull sailing craft based on traditional voyaging outrigger canoes, or baurua as they are known in Kiribati, one of the great centres of their development. Through this new design, Denney has combined the advantages of the traditional Pacific proa, with elements of the Atlantic proa developed in the 1960s.

Denney says one of the advantages of the range as cargo ships is “the righting moment (stability) does not change when it is loaded as all the load is on the leeward hull. Therefore, the beams and rig can be sized for the empty righting moment, which is the same when the boat is fully loaded. On a catamaran, trimaran or monohull, the structures and rigs would have to be designed for the full load. Hence, the 3 tonne, 24m cargo proa capable of carrying 10 tonnes of cargo.  A similar cat would weigh at least 10 tonnes empty, much of the weight being required to resist the forces when fully loaded.  The design spiral would result in ever increasing weights of rig, beams, appendages, and engines, whereas on the Harrypro, the spiral goes the other way; everything gets lighter.”

Other benefit of the style of craft are zero emissions, shallow draft, small payload, low maintenance, low capital costs, and rightful recognition for the Pacific people and their vessel designs which led them to be the best sailors in the world.

According to Marine Inights, “shipping and ocean freight is one of the oldest industries in the world. It began thousands of years ago when seafarers traded simple items such as food and jewels. Today, it remains one of the leading forms of transportation, contributing to 90% of the global trade.”

CargoProa is an example of re-burgeoning local craft, looking to fulfil changing trends within this ancient industry. Combining the ultimate alchemy of entrenched traditional knowledge, and commitment to growing progressive, safer, and more sustainable oceanic practises, the Pacific ship and boat building industry is only set to strengthen.