A well-attended graduation ceremony last week celebrated the completion of three new boats built locally for remote outer atolls.
Waan Aelon in Majel (Canoes of the Marshall Islands) completed its fourth Low Carbon Lagoon Transport Boatbuilding Workshop. Last week’s graduation showed off the work of Timius Torelik (Namu), Waihee Hanchor (Wotje) and Job Jibok (Maloelap) and the WAM canoe building team, as three finished WAMCatamarans were on display after just four months of work. The three “WAMCats” will be shipped to each of the three participating outer atolls.
The first three Low Carbon Lagoon Transport Boatbuilding Workshops were funded by the German Agency for International Development known as GIZ. The latest one was funded by the RMI National Energy Office.
“Cargo catamarans are uniquely designed at WAM replicating the traditional Marshallese canoes, and it’s called WAMCat,” said WAM Director Alson Kelen.