Rangi was built to test the commercial viability of carrying freight and passengers for short hauls among remote island clusters in the Pacific. During my stay in French Polynesia, after the first international leg of the Worldwide Voyage, I had the opportunity to help conduct fieldwork and research and formulate the elements of a strategic plan for its success, one consistent with our mission, Malama Honua (caring for Earth). Rangi has the capacity to leverage its ability to provide interisland transportation to develop a cottage industry based on pressing dried coconut into oil for biofuel.
Rangi is a traditional-style sailing canoe, part of the heritage of the indigenous peoples of Polynesia who sailed across the oceans using noninstrument navigation. This twin-hulled canoe is also a brilliant model of an eco-friendly, sustainable craft that combines the force of the wind on its sails with solar and hydroelectric power.
This canoe can transport up to 4 tons of cargo for approximately 120 miles. It requires only four crew and can accommodate up to eight passengers. This canoe is part of a larger experiment to identify a viable and sustainable business model for regional application.
Price competition for freight transport is stiff because of economies of scale enjoyed by larger, diesel-powered ships, which also benefit from government fuel subsidies. There is potential, however, for a modest competitive advantage based on convenience by sailing to remote locations that are not serviced by the larger ships or where the current frequency of service does not meet existing demand.
In contrast, ecotourism and a focus on environmental sustainability represent a highly promising niche market. Demand continues to increase from visitors for services and products that are culturally sensitive and respectful of the resources of our planet. Rangi offers a chance to sail on a traditional-style canoe that carries organic or pesticide-free, regionally grown food.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity for Rangi is to leverage its ability to provide transportation by orchestrating a co-op-based cottage industry in more remote island areas to process copra into coconut oil, an ancient tradition. The oil can be sold at threefold the price of copra at only 70 percent the weight and a fraction of the freight volume. When fully utilized, capital to purchase the presses can be repaid inside of one month. The coconut oil can be used to generate electricity to run the copra presses, and diesel engines can be converted to use coconut oil as a biofuel at a fraction of the price of unsubsidized diesel fuel.
The energy derived from the coconut oil can be used to fuel generators that run the copra processing presses in remote areas. These copra-run generators can also support the requirements of off-grid living, including reverse osmosis for fresh water from the ocean, and thereby help enable independent, indigenous communities.
Revenue may be derived from transportation of people and freight provided by Rangi and from coconut oil, which is roughly threefold the price of copra per unit weight and 30 percent more compact. The initiative will also result in reduced fuel costs by converting diesel motors used for cars, boats and generators. It also stimulates sales or lease of copra processing machines and diesel motors converted to accommodate biofuel. Copra procurement, transport, copra processing, coconut oil sales and engine conversion for biofuel also will create badly needed jobs in remote regions of French Polynesia.
A co-op partnership model for this cottage industry has the potential to increase the likelihood of long-term participation by offering equitable profit sharing. If successful, this experiment will serve as a demonstration project for other locales and industry sectors. The co-op model is also conducive to microloans without collateral because it places responsibility for repayment on the collective.
Rangi is part of the renaissance of traditional Polynesian culture and offers the potential to create a sustainable, environmentally friendly, equitable business model based on convenience and ecotourism. More important, Rangi has the ability to orchestrate a cottage industry based on the processing of copra into coconut oil in the more remote archipelagos of French Polynesia.
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Note: At the request of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Dr. Zunin is serving as medical officer for the crews aboard Hokule‘a and Hikianalia during the first leg of the international portion of the Worldwide Voyage to Tahiti. He returns to Honolulu this weekend.
Ira “Kawika” Zunin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is a practicing physician. He is medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Services Inc. Please submit your questions to info@manakaiomalama.com.
