University College London

A lifelong love of the sea has led to a university lecturer and researcher working on a project to revolutionise safety for fishing communities in developing countries by designing an affordable, open-source buoyancy aid.  

Andrea Grech La Rosa has designed the low-cost Type V buoyancy aid in collaboration with the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), the University of Pattimura (UoP) and the fishing community in Surabaya and Ambon, Indonesia as well as other partners in that region. But it isn’t just a professional endeavour for him, it is deeply personal. 

This personal passion led to University College London being awarded a £10,000 small grant to design and build a prototype of an open-source, self-inflating buoyancy aid tailored for Indonesian fishing communities. The aid, made from readily available materials in Indonesia, aims to enhance safety at sea by offering a low-cost alternative that provides up to 65N (Newtons) of buoyancy. The project also included workshops in Indonesia to educate local fishers on the importance and functionality of these pieces of equipment as well as documenting their thoughts and feedback. 

The roots of Andrea’s passion for maritime safety can be found in his upbringing. As a child, he was brought up near the sea and spent a lot of time on fishing boats from a very young age. It was this that brought home to him just how important safety at sea really is. That passion was further ignited when Andrea met his PhD supervisor, a man who also became his mentor – Professor Giles Thomas. Their joint zeal for safety at sea led to Andrea joining his group which had a grant focusing on safety at sea which ultimately led to the buoyancy aids project. 

Andrea said: “I was working as part of the Newton Fund project looking at aspects of the fishing industry and as part of that we had a workshop which included fishers and the Coast Guard. And let’s just say that there was a little bit of a heated debate about buoyancy aids. The Coast Guard complained they supplied buoyancy aids for free while the fishing community complained they weren’t suitable for their line of work, doing manual labour and hoisting nets, for example.” 

He said that it was evident that any future solution would need to involve the fishing community themselves and then inspired, he applied to the Lloyd’s Register Foundation for a grant to develop a buoyancy aid that the fishing community would use. 

Andrea commented: “It was important that the buoyancy aid was something that the fishers would wear and not leave at home. My idea from the start was to take a possible design to them, to get their feedback and make them part of the design process so that they would feel they would have ownership of it.” 

The definitive version of the design is a low-profile harness structure made from multiple layers of duct tape, forming webbing. It includes a deflated A2-type motorcycle inner tube that fits around the neck and is strapped to the harness material. Although Andrea’s design is officially designated as a buoyancy aid it has the look and feel of a buoyancy aid. His next steps will be to look at how to make his design compliant with the international standard for buoyancy aids. 

In an emergency, buoyancy aids have pressurised cylinders. In this case, the buoyancy aid is made from a one-litre soft drink bottle. The bottle is pressurised and, when a valve is opened, the compressed air fills the inner tube. This transforms it into a hybrid life jacket/life ring that keeps the wearer afloat until help arrives. The design is intended to be accessible and interchangeable, giving alternative resource options for each component should the fisher not have access to a specific item.  For example, instead of duct tape, car seat belts or truck lashings are a suitable alternative. 

Andrea said: “I’m grateful to the Foundation for trusting me. From my personal perspective, it gave me the financial freedom to come up with designs and try things out. Some ideas didn’t work out as expected, but by the end, I had four prototypes to build and test on. Traveling to Indonesia, meeting fishers, academics, students and people from fishing companies was critical. Getting their feedback and making them part of the design process helped ensure they felt ownership of the solution.” 

That ownership is extended further through making the design open-source which means that anyone in the world can use it. Andrea says his vision is for it to be sourced and made locally, which he believes will add to the commitment to wearing it. Given that – at best – current lifesaving arrangements are ad hoc and worse unlikely to save lives, he says this is a project which could make a dramatic difference. 

And he says, it is a reminder why it is important to listen to everyone who has something to contribute to a project. He commented: “Involving everyone in the project, from fishers to academics, is essential. Their feedback and participation ensure that the solutions we create are effective and embraced by those who will use them, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the project’s success.”  

For Andrea though, the project is not over. He is passionate about fishing safety worldwide and wants to get into more communities to work with them to empower them to create their own versions based on the prototypes and what materials are available. 

He said: “Ultimately, we want to get this buoyancy aid into every community where they do not already have alternatives. In those communities everyone has a relative who works in fishing and all of them have the same wish – to see their loved ones come home safely.” 

The project not only met its goals but also led to new collaborations, including a potential partnership with the FlipFlopi project in Kenya, and inspired students and local stakeholders to further engage in maritime safety initiatives. A dedicated website, Fisher Aid, was also launched to share designs and guidelines with a broader audience. Visit the website here: Fisher Aid.   

Andrea is eager to explore future collaborations to enhance maritime safety and invites interested parties to contact him at a.grechlarosa@ucl.ac.uk.