Central Institute of Fisheries Technologies took delivery of its solar fishing boat named CIFT Sun Boat in a ceremony led by Kerala Fisheries Minister K. Babu at Matsyafed Aquatic Farm, Njarakkal.
This event marked another milestone in the history of Navgathi Marine with much anticipated commissioning and inauguration of its first compact solar fishing boat.
Sun Boat is of length 3.65 meter and have the capacity to carry 4 passengers. These boats can be used for the aquaculture purposes, gill-netting, lining, transportation and aqua tourism in lakes, rivers and reservoirs.
“Annual fuel consumption by mechanized and motorized fishing fleet of India has been estimated 1220 million liters. A fourfold increase have happened in the fuel price and this is eating away the major portion of fisherman’s Income. This situation alarms the need of a renewable and nonpolluting energy source for boat propulsion” said M.V Baiju, Naval Architect, at CIFT.
“CIFT caters to the need of fishing industry and took up the idea of developing a fishing boat powered by solar energy. Navgathi have introduced a 30 foot, sea going, solar fishing boat in Gujarat last year. Their vast experience in solar powered boats makes them the better choice. Soon we will introduce more number of similar boats for recreational and commercial fishing in different locations” added shri. Baiju.
“The recently delivered Sun Boat are based on the proven platform of SunCRZ 9, the four passenger solar powered boat. The twin hull construction gives higher stability during fishing activities and deck area is wider compared to any similar sized conventional boats. This boat meets all the stability and safety requirements of Kerala Inland Vessel Rules and are capable of running 3 to 4 hours after complete charging. It attains a speed of 4 knots in calm waters. The propellers are made of plastic composite and does not corrode” says Navgathi’s Project Manager Alby Joy.
Main Advantages from the Sun Boats are
· No Fuel Cost
· Zero pollution from burning of fuel
· No sound pollution as it has a silent propulsion system
· Clean FRP surface for fish handling
Navgathi, pioneer in solar boating industry of India have developed solar cruise boats of passenger capacities 2, 6 and 10. Recently Navgathi joined with Alternatives Energies of France and formed NavAlt Solar & Electric Boats Company to power the solar boat revolution and offer passenger capacities up to 100.