Electric Boats for Fisherman as a Substitute for Fuel Oil on The Belitung Island (Indonesia)

Abstract Fishing constitutes a prominent livelihood for many Indonesian coastal residents. Indonesia boasts the world’s longest coastline, which suggests that fishermen should enjoy a high standard of living and a wholesome lifestyle. Nevertheless, a significant portion of traditional Indonesian fishermen fails to experience these benefits, as they persist in outdated fishing practices inherited from their forebears, remaining untouched by the technological advancements that can enhance their economic well-being. This results in elevated operational and maintenance costs during fishing operations. This issue primarily arises from inefficient energy utilization, including fuel, and restricted fuel availability. The objective of this research is to identify solutions to these challenges, particularly by leveraging more efficient technologies to reduce costs and protect fishermen from the health hazards of pollution during their fishing activities. To achieve this research goal, various stages were undertaken, encompassing on-site observations, the design of an electric boat (e-boat) system based on conventional vessels, simulations, and laboratory-scale testing. The testing results indicate that the electric boat, equipped with a 6-kW motor and an 8.64 kWh battery capacity, can be effectively applied in the retrofit process. The initial phase of retrofitting ten electric boats incurs a total cost of $88,620, with each boat’s retrofit expected to yield a return on investment over a span of 20 years. Therefore, this retrofit process necessitates government intervention to provide a 50% subsidy for the electric boat retrofit, subsequently reducing the duration of credit installment payments for fishermen.