Yes, you read the title right, and yes, I’m serious. I recently met with the head of the Fiji Red Cross, and while the primary focus of our discussion was the use of aerial robotics (UAVs) for disaster risk reduction and response, the Red Cross head was full of other ideas. He recounted, for example, that many yacht owners had offered their services after Cyclone Winston swept through the South Pacific. They offered the use of their yachts to reach the heavily affected outer islands and to transport doctors, humanitarian assessment teams and relief supplies. When he saw me smiling I told him that a good colleague and I had actually worked on developing this concept in early 2016.
It was particularly insightful when the Red Cross head mentioned how he had really, really wanted to leverage this untapped resource but was simply too over-stretched to coordinate a Luxury Yachts League for Disaster Response. I smiled again because the concept I had worked on last year was specifically geared towards developing those coordination mechanisms and building the necessary skills amongst yacht pilots before the next major disaster.
Fact is, there is no established interface for national or international aid groups to coordinate effectively and efficiently with yacht owners or their crews. The efforts that do exist appear to be more ad hoc or independent. But yacht owners and crews are rarely disaster response experts, which means that are not familiar with humanitarian coordination mechanisms. As a result, they often don’t know how to best plug into or augment ongoing relief efforts. This disconnect prevents organizations like the Fiji Red Cross from taking advantage of logistics solutions offered by yachts. And so yachts remain an untapped resource for humanitarian logistics, specifically in the context of Small Island States and countries with extensive coastlines like India and Chile.
The following is taken from the concept note I co-authored:
“Multimillion dollar yachts and their word-class international crews are not commonly considered as having the potential to play an invaluable humanitarian role in the aftermath of major disasters. This oversight is a massive mistake. Their ability to expertly and rapidly transport doctors, field humanitarians and life-saving goods to disaster-affected communities near coastlines and major rivers should not be underestimated. And yet, this highly skilled expertise and proven technology is consistently overlooked following major disasters.
The main reason for this is simple: an international network of world-class yacht crews has not been catalyzed, coordinated and trained to serve in humanitarian efforts. Such a response could leverage comparative advantages by providing a necessary complement to larger disaster response efforts by governments, international NGOs and the United Nations. A prepared Yachts League could respond more more quickly, avoiding some of the geopolitical hurdles. They would be fully self-financed and self-sufficient.”
What’s more, these yachts could serve as takeoff and landing points for UAVs in order to carry out areal assessments along coastlines in further inland after major disasters. They could also be used to deploy marine robotics to inspect harbors, bridges and other maritime infrastructure. So what are we waiting for? Yacht owners were directly offering their fully equipped yachts and expert crews to the Red Cross in the wake of Cyclone Pam. So lets start with Fiji and build practical coordination mechanisms and provide the necessary training to enable the use of yachts in future disasters in the South Pacific. We can then expand from there with lessons learned and best practices. The key is to work directly with established humanitarian organizations from the start.
Anyone interested in taking the lead on this?
iRevolutions 