New Training Boats for FMI

On Wednesday, October 8, 2003, the faculty, staff and students of FMI were witnesses to the christening and launching of its two boats recently acquired to supplement its training program. One of the boats, now named “Hokuto”, was a donation from the Japanese Government by JICA when that agency found that the only training boat the school had, “Cassiopeia”, was blown onto the reef during Typhoon Mitag which had devastated Yap Island in early March of 2002. The other boat, named “Snapper”, is the award of the claim filed by the school through FEMA for the total loss of the Cassiopeia. One-fourth of the cost of the boat was paid for by FMI as a requirement of FEMA in order to get the boat.

The Hokuto is measured 39.7 feet and is driven by a diesel engine with 210 horsepower. She will be used for training the students mostly in use of echo sounder and fish finder, and in longline, pole-and-line and dip-net fishing, and for training in maneuvering, shiphandling, piloting, radar navigation and general navigation. The Snapper, on the other hand, is driven by a set of twin 115-horsepowered outboard motors, and is measured 33.10 feet. She will be used mostly in gill-net fishing, a little bit of longline fishing, shiphandling and maneuvering, inshore aquacultures, and other inshore activities that the faculty will schedule for the students.

Also present during the christening and launching ceremonies were the JICA Resident Representative in the Federated States of Micronesia, Mr. Shiraishi Katsumi, and one of his staff, officials from the Departments of Resources and Development and Public Works and Transportation, and Budget and Planning Office of Yap State Government, as well as friends and supporters of the program. In his short remarks, Mr. Katsumi outlined the long-standing friendship that Japan has with FSM and the resultant consummation of the Fisheries Training Project in the FSM for the development of manpower in the fisheries and maritime sectors which is implemented at FMI. The donation by Japan of the Hokuto to FMI is a sign of the Japanese commitment to developing those sectors in the FSM. The Chief of the Workforce Enrichment Division, Mr. Larry Raigetal, who spoke on behalf of the Director of R&D, challenged the faculty and students of FMI to put the boats into good use and not waste their potentials.

The ceremony was held at the compound of the Office of Marine Resources Division, at whose anchorage the Hokuto had been anchored. The ceremony began around two o’clock in the afternoon and ended at around three o’clock with a boat ride by nearly everyone on both boats. Both boats could easily do a speed in excess of 15 knots.