Watever is a French Non-Governmental Association composed of professionals from the maritime, transport, and development industries. It was established in 2010 by

Marc Van Peteghem Marc Van Peteghem is a French naval architect, co-founder of VPLP (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) a French based naval architectural firm, since 1983. Studies Born on January 9, 1957, in Paris, Marc Van Peteghem studied at Southampton Solent Uni ...

, Yves Marre, Alain Connan and Gérald Similowski with the conviction that boats can be a gateway to development. The NGO primarily focuses on underprivileged populations living on the shores of oceans and rivers, and provides them access to floating solutions uniquely adapted to their economic, social and climatic situation.

History

The NGO arises from the encounter of its two founding members in 2004:

(President) and Yves Marre (Vice-President). A friendship was born between these two men who share the same values and results in several projects. Together they developed the concept of floating ambulance in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, for the floating hospitals of

Friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

, and produced the first unsinkable boats for the fishermen of the country. In 2010, they created NGO Watever with Alain Connan and Gérald Similowski to support the development of shipbuilding industry in

, working on innovation and transfer of technologies. Bangladesh is considered as the pilot country where NGO Watever can study and finalize various solutions that could be replicated in countries with similar issues.

Field of activities

Watever develops floating solutions to support people living on the shores of oceans and large rivers. Its main aims are: * Research and development * Support to local shipbuilding through Taratari shipyard, their local partner in Bangladesh * The implementation of a training program for the manufacture and maintenance of boats made of composite materials The NGO also supports other maritime projects in Bangladesh such as: * The preservation and the enhancement of the local naval heritage * The creation of the M.S.R.S, the "Maritime Security & Rescue Society", a sea rescue company in Bangladesh

Projects

* 2005: Launch of the first two ambulances catamaran of Bangladesh * 2007: Design and production of the prototype of the first unsinkable fishing boat of Bangladesh * 2010: Creation of NGO Watever * 2010: Launch of the first unsinkable fishing boat of Bangladesh * 2010: Corentin de Chatelperron, volunteer sent by NGO Watever to Taratari shipyard, sails from Bangladesh to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on a 40% Jute made sailing boat. Birth of « Gold of Bengal » project, which will be supported for three years by NGO Watever. * 2011: Renovation and increase of the medicalized area of the French barge "Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital", first floating hospital of Friendship (NGO) * 2012: Taratari shipyard delivers 7 shuttle-boats for the children of Rangamati lake ordered by

Unicef UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

* 2012: Taratari shipyard delivers 60 unsinkable fishing boats for

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

* 2013: Excavation of the "Golden Boat" from

Kuakata Kuakata ( bn, কুয়াকাটা) ( Burmese/ Rakhine/ Arakanese:ကုအာကာတ) is a town in southern Bangladesh known for its panoramic sea beach. Kuakata beach is a sandy expanse long and wide. From the beach one can have an ...

(southwestern Bangladesh), a wreck that was buried for over one hundred years * 2013: First training of the country of 15 technicians in the maintenance and repair of fishing vessels * 2013: Launch of "Gold of Bengal" prototype, a sailing boat made of 100%

Jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...

and

Polyester resin Polyester resins are synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols. Maleic anhydride is a commonly used raw material with diacid functionality in unsaturated polyester resins. Unsaturated polyester resins ...

. * 2013: Construction and preservation of the "Moon Boat" of

Cox’s Bazar Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the n ...

* 2014: Beginning of the production of 10 new shuttle-boats for children of Rangamati Lake

Projects in development

* 2014: Launching of Watever Training Center for composite shipbuilding * 2014: Launching of a research project on bio-composite made from bamboo * 2014: Launching of the Maritime Security and Rescue Society in Bangladesh

Partners

* A.K Khan & Company Ltd. *

Alliance française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

* Crucell *

* Friendship (NGO) * Kaïros * Outremer Yachting * Taratari shipyard *

* Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost

VPLP VPLP design (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently ...

Veolia Environnement Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French Multinational corporation, transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water resource management, water m ...

* Zeppelin-Geo

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.watever.org
VPLP's website
Sailing Transport organizations based in France Foreign charities operating in Bangladesh Transport organisations based in Bangladesh