LDS Charities Returns Fishermen to the Seas

Latter-day Saint Charities, a humanitarian arm of the Church, worked with another charitable organization to help restore a fishing boat that returned 27 fishermen in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to the seas, allowing them to provide for their families.

Because of the tsunami in 2004, the fishing boat Bolivia was damaged and sank in the Krueng Aceh River. After the boat had been submerged for two months, the United States Army and the Australian army helped to pull it from the water. There the boat remained untouched for a year.

Latter-day Saint Charities and Austin International Rescue and Relief Operations (AIRO) initiated a restoration project of the large fishing boat. The restoration was completed in November 2006.

Following a short ceremony held at the waterfront, the boat was officially launched.

The original owner of the boat and his spouse perished during the tsunami. Their three children survived and will now receive 50 percent of the profits from the fishing boat.

Latter-day Saint Charities helped restore the Bolivia, a large fishing boat damaged in the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. Half of the vessel’s profits will go to the children of the owners killed in the tsunami.