Akvotransiro

The Indian Inland Waterway is once again making headlines for the wrong reasons. Another ferry has sunk, most likely due to a breach in the hull. Fortunately, this incident did not occur on a regular passenger ferry route, and the vessel was carrying a few members of a bridge-building crew, all of whom were rescued. In the past, a State Inland Water Engineer showed me a video of a hull floor with multiple leaks and only a single quarter horsepower pump being used to remove the bilge water. He complained about having to press vessels into service due to a lack of ferries. When I suggested using wood pegs to block the holes from the inside and then sealing them with fast-curing epoxy and fibreglass chopstrands until the vessel could be dry-docked for repairs, he seemed sceptical and asked, "But how will it work? It is a steel ship." I also suggested welding the area with a steel plate after sealing the holes but emphasized the need for waterproof welding rods and a welder who knows how to use them in underwater and wet conditions. This suggestion only led to more confusion, with him questioning, "How can one weld in wet conditions?" The unwillingness of government engineers and officers to seek help from industry experts, unless they are brought in on a daily wage basis by tire-one consultancies, can be outright frustrating. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the Inland waterways sector, especially in Eastern India. There is also an overreliance on the "Kolkatar Kaku" Mafia, where professionals from Kolkata, often past their prime and with outdated knowledge, are brought in as experts and consultants based on their historical credentials ( to be read as some august institution or another which they passed out in the 60s or the 70s) rather than their current expertise.

Ravi Deka
(Founder)

Narrow escape for 11 as ferry capsizes in Subansiri river | Guwahati News - Times of India Eleven passengers on a ferry had a narrow escape when the vessel capsized in the Subansiri river in Lakhimpur district. Learn about the rescue operation and the investigation launched by the Inland Water Transport department. Stay informed about the incident involving the 'MT Bira Dutta' ferry and t...

With temperatures hitting 38 degrees Celsius and us working under a tin roof, a short mid-day siesta is now the enforced rule of the day. But while the workers of our Boatbuilding workshop have a few cots to lie down, the poor Founder has to make do with whatever is available...thus with apologies to Manfred Mann..here he is perched on the outrigger of our Bamboo Composite river Trimaran for a power nap...

"Sailing on dry land
Cast adrift on an empty floor
Drowning on dry land
Put aside with the will to be"...

And people think running a Startup is about making catchy elevator pitches, impressing investors and raising money !!

Deeply honoured by the visit of Hon.Mizoram CM P.U. Lalduhoma @ Momentum NE Conclave who had many questions and expressed deep interest in our work developing strong, safe, sustainable and affordable Bamboo Bio composite boats for our lakes and waterways.

Our 8.5m, 18PAX Bamboo composite River Trimaran is finally ready. It was our genesis project, but one that faced multiple obstacles in the guise of donors turning their back on us after big promises, red-tape and utter lack of funds. Now, it's after a series of trials on the Brahmaputra and completing the registration formalities. Next, it will be a trip upstream from Guwahati to Sadiya. The project was made possible with small grants from ASTEC, INBAR and NEEDP, with the steering assembly gifted by Multisteer.

Our participation at the People's Festival of Innovations 2023, New Delhi got a bit of media exposure in thePrint.in, and it is the 2nd time our Startup Akvotransiro Tech and our Bamboo Biocomposite Boats made it to the national media.

The link to the article is in the comment section.

Our founder Ravi J. Deka talking about his vision of making the waterways of India and the global south safer with affordable and sustainably built river vessels, and of the challenges and travails of an innovator in NE India at the NE and J&K session at the PFI 2023, New Delhi.

Our founder Ravi J. Deka with Sri.Sharad Sharma, founder iSpirt Foundation, former CEO Yahoo India, at the People's Festival of Innovations 2023, New Delhi.

Day one of the Global Fisheries Conference.

We are participating in the Global Fisheries Conference 2023, Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad on the 21-22November. Do drop by our booth to learn about Bamboo Composite Boats. We will be happy to see you there.

Our 4-person Fishing Canoe is getting ready for the first trial. This 5-meter boat weighs only 65 kg and is incredibly robust and unsinkable. It is built with our Bamboo Biocomposite Sandwich method and comprises 85% Bamboo. It is 6 times more sustainable than hardwood, less than 1/3 the weight of a similar-sized wood or FRP vessel, and is almost fully biodegradable at the end of the working lifespan. When fitted with an outrigger, it becomes rock stable even in choppy waters and is virtually capsize-proof.

Testing our new single-outrigger Bamboo Composite Canoe (also known as Proa) at Deepar Beel, Assam, which we specially designed after discussions with the Indian Central Fishery Department to fit in with their requirements for inland fishermen and fisheries. This boat is rock stable, virtually capsize-proof, and carries three adults with space to spare for nets, feed or the catch. It can be rowed, and powered with a small petrol OBM or an electric trolling motor. Best of all, the weight of the entire boat is less than 50 kg and is sustainably built using 90% bamboo.

For those unfamiliar with the name Proa, they are vessels with two asymmetrically sized hulls, or as in our case, a canoe with an outrigger. Such designs are used from South India and Sri Lanka eastwards across Indonesia, the Philippines, all the way to Tahiti. In open seas, Proas with sails can cross half an ocean, but those in coastal and river waters are oar and nowadays mostly OBM powered.

Two of our team, R.Boro and P.Das have completed their Crew training with the Inland Water Transport Department in Assam. Finally, we will be able to test our Bamboo Composite Vessels and Electric Drives vessels on the Brahmaputra. Way to go Boys!

We were covered by News18!! The press is finally waking up to our efforts after the World bamboo day. Here's the first English language media coverage about our Bamboo based Bio-composite Boats and other efforts in modernizing the much neglected inland water transport sector of India, creating green and sustainable technologies.

Assam's 'Bamboo Boat' Innovation: A Sustainable Game Changer in Water Transport - News18 What sets these Bamboo Boats apart is their ability to coexist harmoniously with nature. Unlike traditional wooden boats that necessitate the felling of trees, the Bamboo Boats leave no such ecological footprint.

We often get queries for our boats and hear the disappointment of the other person even across the phone line. Sometimes the calls even take up a nasty tone, as the callers who neither come and bother to check out the boats personally, but have only seen pictures get all argumentative and aggressive because the boats are not cheaper than wooden ones. Their last argument invariably being "But it's Bamboo…"

Sorry!! Our Bamboo Bio-Composite Boats are not a low-cost alternative to the traditional wooden country boat made by traditional village boat makers, and neither are they constructed with cheap thatched bamboo.

They are modern green alternatives to fibreglass composites, with extremely robust sandwich construction, laminated and glued together with aerospace grade epoxy. They are waterproof, extremely light weight, stable, unsinkable with life spans of over 10 years. Even the smallest boat takes over a week of meticulous hard work to be built by skilled craftsmen. And yes, they are almost half the price of an equal size and displacement fibreglass boat, and usually cheaper than even inflatables of the same size. But no, we are not competing with your village wooden boat maker or a Decathlon inflatable rubber raft

Despite all the hullabaloo by the government and various organizations about using bamboo, its various real-life advantages, strength and sustainability, Bamboo is still regarded as a low-cost alternative to timber. People, especially in eastern India habituated with seeing bamboo fences and the thatched bamboo houses, automatically relegate bamboo as a low-cost product and the same applies in their mind towards our boats. How to break this perception barrier is a challenge for all professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs involved in bamboo.

Fiire, our incubator in Goa, chose to focus on our Assam-based startup Akvotransiro Tech on the occasion of the World Bamboo Day.
Honoured for the love and recognition!!

We got featured in Assam's largest circulated vernacular daily on the eve of the World Bamboo Day.

কাঠ অথবা লো নহয় ! অসমতে নিৰ্মাণ কৰা হৈছে বাঁহৰ নাও ডিজিটেল ডেস্ক : আপুনি-মই হয়তো কাঠৰে নিৰ্মিত নাও অথবা লোৰে নিৰ্মিত জাহাজত জলপথেৰে যাত্ৰা কৰিছো। লো অথবা কাঠেৰে নাও ...

Our newest model of Bamboo based Bio-Composite Boat. The canoe design is primarily meant as a replacement of traditional wooden fishing boats for protected waters, but can be also used for recreational use as well. It's 5.2 meters long and weighs only 65 Kg and can be both oar or OBM powdered. Check out our website www.akvotransiro.co.in

Our smallest Bamboo Bio-Composite Boat, 4.6 meters, 2-person fishing or recreational canoe on trials at Deepar Beel, Assam, India. Safety, Sustainability and Strength, all at the cost of an inflatable!

These students are using the same material "Bamboo mat Board" as the core for their composites as we are doing for boats, only they are using a thinner variety. Plus they don't require to make it as strong and watertight as in our case.

However, the core difference is that when students in Kerala use bamboo Bio-composite it makes national news. When we first made and tested the first Bamboo composite sandwich boats in Assam, nobody in the local media even bothered to come and have a look, let alone provide any coverage.

The same applies to the local government officials. In fact when the Forest Dept wanted to order a long distance patrolling house boat from us, the local Inland Water Department advised them against it and to go for a traditional wooden or steel vessel. Yes, not a single official from the said department ever bothered to visit us as well despite numerous invitations as well. Lets also not forget that we faced an all round rejections from all the incubators and accelerators to who we applied for grants or assistance.

Students make lightweight bamboo electric vehicle for global competition This year, the team focused on building a lightweight and sustainable electric vehicle prototype, said Joshwin T Rajan, the team leader this year.

A short impromptu interview where I describe our Startup Akvotransiro Tech's work with Bamboo Composite Boat and our speciated Electric Shallow Water Drives. https://youtu.be/RJSNaL1wq74

#FiiRE Revolutionizing Water Transport in India: Introducing Akvotransiro Tech Pvt Ltd presents Akvotransiro Tech Pvt. Ltd a startup supported under SISF SchemeThis video showcases the pioneering work of Akvotransiro Tech Pvt Ltd, India'...