Supported by the Ministry of Education, the project, called “Donate Boat [sic] for Flood Victims”, was started in mid-October.
According to the leader of the project, Karan Panitpichetwong, boat makers from Phuket Fibreglass Shipyard and professors from Phuket Technical College took two weeks to develop a new design for the donated glass fibre boat, which is lighter than a standard boat made from the same material.
The shape of the boat has also been specially designed to be ultra-stable, to make it easier for people with no previous experience of using boats to handle.
Since October 27, about 20 third-year students studying ship construction as their major have been turning out at least 20 boats a day.
The first shipment of 100 completed boats will be trucked on November 1 to Bangkok, where they will be distributed by the Ministry. A hundred more will be delivered five days later. After that the students will review the situation to see whether more boats are needed.