An Examination of Cuban Migrant Craft: Rafts, Chugs, and Boats

Abstract

Cuban Migrant Craft, known colloquially as Chugs, is a unique type of vessel that needs study. Made famous by the media, this type of vessel is barely studied. By studying vessels and the demographics, this thesis is one of the building blocks for future studies and a call to action. This thesis found that the vessels generally used are of similar size many are between 4 and 7 meters. Also, most of the vessels appeared to be homemade. These vessels also had pieces and materials added to allow the vessels to be seaworthy. To propel the vessels, a majority of the vessels used combustion engines that were not originally intended for marine use and as such had special modifications to allow the engines to function. This thesis seemed to suggest that the demographics are not important to the overall design, but this needs to be studied in more depth.