3500 migrants a year drowning in the Med is unacceptable. It's action time!

If there were any design ideas or work which could save lives legally, that would be most appropriate for the forum, and the desire to save lives is certainly commendable.

However the overall and underlying political, national, and international problems are far beyond the scope of the Boat Design Forums and would probably require more posts than all the posts on boat design and boatbuilding here on the Boat Design Forums combined. Given the desire to keep the Boat Design forums focused primarily on boat design and boatbuilding and maintain an atmosphere where everyone from different backgrounds and countries can enjoy coming to discuss the common interest in boats, for detailed discussion of the political and/or religious aspects of this issue, please send the original poster a PM or possibly more appropriate venues can be suggested for those who wish to engage in a detailed and lengthy dialogue on the political aspects.

 

Thanks. I started this thread hoping for an alternative to simply becoming a fundraiser for MOAS. Though you wouldn't know it reading my critics, I'm very concerned about contributing to the PULL FACTOR. Having said that, MOAS is in action rescuing people, which I respect. I appreciate your constructive suggestions, and will check out the other efforts. Much obliged.

 

I suspect you will have a change of attitude if your town of Smithtown is over-run by these who call themselves "refugees:". Not for nothin'. Just sayin'.

 

The a##holes, on both sides, who created the Middle East mess should have be brought to trial.....60 years ago.

 

At the present the most popular craft used for the crossing from Turkey to Greece is a cheap Chinese inflatable. It is very long, soft bottomed and has a 30 hp outboard.

To prevent migrants drowning, the solution would be a small robot in the shape of a shark with a very sharp fin. It has a microcomputer, a simple metal detector, a gps receiver that keeps it very close to the coast and a submerged microphone that can pickup the distinct vibrations of a 30 hp outboard.

Once it recognizes the target it approaches until the distance is just a few feet, then circles around it a few times to make sure the fabric is cut in several places. The robot then moves away and waits for the next event.

This is a modest project that takes just a few months to develop. Once a few "kills" have been made and social media proliferate the message the inflatable traffic will end.

 

Older.

"Hey, guys, let's make nations out of people who hate each other!"

... the end of colonialism and aftermath of WW1 in the ME.

 

On 16 may this year it's one century ago it was messed up officially . . . .

Sykes–Picot Agreement

 

Things could have gone in any direction after WWII inspite agreements made before like the Sykes-Picot one.

Eisnhower warned for too much power from industry and banks but he was ignored. He's warnings came when the "Middle-East" dilemma was created because he visioned what would happen.
The next US president tried to push back the power of banks/industry and we all know what happened to him.
Money (oil) created the mess and it will end the mess.......

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-turkey-sinking-idUSKCN0V809I

It seems people are working both sides of the issue. Smugglers make their money, here's Turkey extorting money and acceptance into the EU as a condition for stopping the flow of refugees into the EU. It sort of highlights that it's not necessarily an overloaded boat problem, it's a greed and political problem.

 

This robot could even sink the inflatables in an early stage while they're entering a boarding place, so no passengers are aboard yet, which means you have to operate it on the Turkish side, and reload the batteries from a ship or so.

 

To this I would add that the ME has likewise seen more than its share of "Anyone but you." attitudes which, along with "Lets you and him fight.", I've called one of the two grand traditions of foreign policy. And not good traditions either.

For instance, a series of "anyone but you" decisions has led Iran to the place where it now is in the world is from at least the time when they turned to the Germans to prevent the Soviets from tearing away a whole province, which IIRC resulted in the British attacking, and so forth. Even the US getting cozy with Saddam for a time was a direct consequence of Iran being our "anyone but you" post hostage crisis.

 

That's what I had in mind, a number of them close to the shore wherever there is a beach. Loaded with the proper software they solar charge their batteries in the absence of engine noise and stay at a safe distance from fishing craft.

 

My goal is to bring design sensibility to something political (rather than to bring politics to design), so I'll go along with this.
DMAIC is an acronym for:

• Define the problem, improvement activity, opportunity for improvement, the project goals, and customer (internal and external) requirements.
• Measure process performance.
• Analyze the process to determine root causes of variation, poor performance (defects).
• Improve process performance by addressing and eliminating the root cause
• Control the improved process and future process performance.

Are we correctly defining the problem? A mechanical shark might have the effect of reducing the total number of deaths at sea, but it would deny access to the sea by people with inflatable boats in general. Is that responsive? How would you state the problem?

If we're going to take CDK semi-seriously, we should do the same concerning Myark's suggestions. Myark, how would you state the problem? For those inclined to criticize the notion of an improved boat, would your perspective change were the migrants themselves were to organize a boat building coop and cut out the smuggler middlemen?

If we decide developing a better boat is too charged a topic with too many political implications, would you support measures to prevent boat overloading (were it possible), prosecute smugglers, and prosecute or somehow end the selling of fake life jackets? Until someone can supply the facts concerning the life jackets, let's assume a fake life jacket is one that uses an inferior grade of foam that absorbs water rather than providing reliable, long term flotation. Dear reader: are you in that camp? Can we state the problem in a way that accommodates that point of view?

Hey Alik, in this context I value your opinion, because you are a good designer, and that means you're a good problem solver. Given that there are differences between my American and your Russian perspective on things, is there a way the problem could be stated that would allow people with different backgrounds and ideas to work together constructively toward a beneficial solution (and stop playing the blame game)?

 

Here's the latest on the Syria peace talks: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes...-reach-negotiating-table-160130140901973.html
On the subject of Russian/US relations, this, while it's a year old, is the smartest thing I've heard: http://news.mpbn.net/post/riddle-inside-enigma-origins-russian-conduct-home-and-world#stream/0 (part of this series: http://news.mpbn.net/term/camden-conference-2015)
Perhaps these links are out-of-place, but they are too good to limit their distribution to Alik.