11th February – Dikkowita (north of the island):

The first model of the industrialized version of the 13,8 m trimaran Sashimi MK1 was successfully launched at the newly built Dikkowita Harbour (north of Colombo) in the presence of the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Hon. Dr. Rajitha Senarathne, Cey-Nor Foundation, Nedsom Foundation and BAF Foundation. This particular boat will sail 5000 km across the Indian Ocean towards Somalia where the boat will be used for commercial fishing along the African Coast and as model for boat building training supported by the Nedsom Foundation in Puntland. The boat is equipped with the refrigeration sea water system for better fish conservation on board and the presence of sails (48 m2) allows fuel reduction. The initial prototype of the trimaran MK1 built in 2007 was designed by Jim Wilshire from AllSeas, financially supported by the Government of Belgium and developed by the Building A Future Foundation. The design and the plans of the industrialized version of the trimaran will be shared free of cost with other boatyards in Sri Lanka & in other coastal areas in the world to be developed at a larger scale for a stronger ecologic and economic impact.