With waterways traditionally presenting the safest or the only possible route of travel, boats have been used for transportation for centuries along coastal and inland routes. At present, their significance has decreased due to development of other transport types, but transportation by small (i.e. with hull length LH≤24m) watercraft is still in high demanded for tourism and recreational activities in many holiday destinations. For remote resorts such as Maldives, islands of the Andaman Sea, Gulf of Thailand or coast of Vietnam, small water craft (fig.1) are by now the only possible means of transport. Among the tourist boats are traditional local watercraft that evolved without proper engineering (fig.2). It is an interesting exercise for any boat designer to look at local boat types as a genesis of perfectly functional and authentic style that survives in today’s mass production. Unfortunately, the lack of safety regulation and inspection result in many of these craft being built and operated under lower safety standards.

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