Have you ever taken a ferry to the Aegean islands? Have you seen those white barrels stacked on every deck? Each one is an inflatable ferry life raft.
Ferry life rafts sit there for years, through summer heat, winter storms, salt spray, and endless sun. Passengers walk past them without a second glance. If something goes wrong, it’s their job to keep people alive. They are there, waiting and hoping to never be used.
Every winter during the low traffic season, all ferry life rafts are taken down for inspection. They are inflated, inspected and if everything is ok get repackaged in their barrels. It’s quite a sight actually. Life rafts of every size and shape, from pyramid ones fitting 20 passengers up to huge rectangular rafts to rescue more than 100 people, get inflated in seconds in a big warehouse.
Life rafts have an expiration date. Seriously.
By law, ferry operators must replace their life rafts every 10 to 20 years depending on the type. Even if they have never been deployed, they need to be thrown away after a certain date. Maybe the glue will suddenly fail, maybe the inspection missed a fault, who knows? And safety standards get stricter, it’s a matter of life or death after all..The old rafts are taken down and what happens next?
Most decommissioned life rafts will end up in landfills. Some are incinerated and others sit in storage sheds, forgotten. They are built to survive the open sea and all weather, they are tough, durable, and waterproof. So they do not break down easily in a landfill, they will stay in the ground for hundreds of years.
We work with one of the few companies in Greece that maintain and decommission ferry life rafts. They handle dozens a year and we collect the ones to be thrown away. Then the real work begins.
First, we design. We look at the fabrics and ropes, their texture and history, and we decide what it wants to become. One can’t force the material into shapes it doesn’t like, one has to work with it.
From disassembly to cutting and washing and sewing, it is really long process. We do it the old-fashioned way. Carefully, slowly, with respect for what this material has been through. You can read all about it in an upcoming post.
A bag that has already lived one life. A bag that has survived storms, carried safety equipment, and stood guard on a ferry for years is ready for a second life with you.
And when your bag eventually wears out, please don’t throw it away. We will repair it for free, because that’s the third life we’re planning for.
So next time you take an Aegean island ferry, look at those barrels strapped to its side. That raft might become your next bag, or maybe it will become someone else’s. Either way, it won’t become waste.
