More Than The Boat: Providing Marine Transportation
As we near completion of the renovations to our repurposed transport boat, the project has broadened in scope.
Originally JAARS was to handle purchasing a vessel, upfitting it for use in the Pacific and island waterways, delivering it to Papua New Guinea, and providing three years of funds to subsidize operations until it became self-sustaining. Our partner SIL-PNG was to take charge of actual mission support and commercial operations: land-based infrastructure, licensing and regulatory compliance, crew staffing, an ongoing financial sustainability plan, and other long-term responsibilities.
But SIL-PNG has experienced significant funding and staffing constraints and, while confirming the ongoing need and mission impact for the Transport Boat program, has asked JAARS to assume all responsibility for the boat’s long-term operations.
JAARS is committed to the transportation needs of SIL-PNG and other maritime-context Bible translation partners in the region, so we’re now working on elements of this solution that were not on our radar screen at the outset of the project. Renovations and testing of the prototype boat are almost complete and we’re moving forward with the intent of full deployment when a sustainable operational plan—and the infrastructure to support it—has been developed and approved.
