Boat building in RP still a backyard industry

Boat building in the Philippines, although it began about a thousand years ago, has remained a backyard or beachfront industry.

For now, under the country’s current situation, this type of boat building serves a purpose.

The potential here is in the development of mass-produced boats that are cheap, safe, efficient, and ecologically friendly in forms that are acceptable to fisherman, pointed out vice chancellor Glen Aguilar of the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV).

But the economics of fishing boat construction will soon take a turn in view of the continued depletion of the country’s forest, he said in a report entitled "Challenge in the design, construction and operation of Philippine fishing vessels."

Citing Japan’s experience, Dr. Aguilar pointed out that when that country converted to fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) boats from its traditional boats in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a lot of resistance from fishermen.

Government workers had to demonstrate the strength of FRP versus wood by hammering the two hulls and comparing the strengths of each.

But the main factor that really forced Japanese fishermen to change was the increasing cost of wood.

"Maybe within the next 10 years, with our wood resources running out, the economics of fishing boat construction will force similar conversion," projected Aguilar. "The opportunity for establishing such an industry is hence quite attractive."

The UP Visayas official, who is an engineer, noted that there are already some efforts started in this direction.

For one, the UPV task force is now available for model testing of designs and capability to develop computer-aided designs, construct models, and conduct model testing experiments.

Aguilar stressed that the establishment of a Philippine fishing boat capability is seen as a potential industry for the replacement of existing fleet.

As it is, he observed, the country’s commercial fishing fleet is aging.

While most boast the most modern fish finding, fishering gear and machinery, most hulls were bought second-hand from Japan or other countries.

Some shipyards construct or convert fishing vessels but production is not significant compared to the second hand-sourced fishing vessels.

"Attendant to this are safety and stability problems accompanying conversion and adaptation to local fishing methods," Aguilar stated.

He said that Philippine fishing vessels are classified into municipal for boats with less than three gross tons and commercial for boats more than three gross tons.

Commercial boats are further classified into small-commercial (three to less than 20 gross tons), medium-commercial (20 to less than 150 gross tons), and large-commercial (150 gross ton and greater).

Scant information on fishing vessels is available.