The Indian Navy’s stitched ship will embark on its maiden ocean voyage from Mandvi in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman in December 2025.
This was disclosed by the member of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council Sanjeev Sanyal with the retired officer of the Royal Navy of Oman Captain Saleh Said Mohammed Al Jabri at the presentation on The Stitched Ship Project reviving an Indian Ocean tradition at International Centre Goa (ICG) recently.
The ship which has been modeled after a 5th century, stitched sailing ship painting found in the Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra is being built at the Hodi Innovations shipyard on Divar island in Goa.
Sanyal, whose brainchild this stitched ship project is, said that the ship should be ready by March 2025. The ship building which had commenced in September 2023 is being supervised by master shipwright, Babu Sankaran and his team from Kerala who are using the ancient method of stitching the ship together using choir ropes, fish oil, coconut fibres and red pigments.
Sanyal who made a detailed presentation on India’s 5000 year-old maritime history, even cited a reference to Marco Polo, where the Italian seafarer mentioned seeing Indian ships carrying a crew of 130 people in the 14th century. According to Sanyal, in modern times, stitching of ships was restricted to small fishing canoes used in Karnataka and racing boats in Kerala.
“The Indian Navy project is aimed at keeping alive this ancient tradition and reviving the glory days of India’s maritime history,” Sanyal said.
Captain Saleh has the distinction of commanding the ‘Jewel of Muscat’ a stitched ship modeled after an ancient Omani trading ship, whose wreckage was discovered off the coast of Indonesia in 1998.
Captain Saleh with a multinational crew of 15 sailed from Muscat to Singapore on board the ‘Jewel of Muscat’ for five months in the year 2010. The Omani naval officer recounted the many storms and cyclones that his crew had to brave, which resulted in a broken mast and excess water on board during their voyage.
Captain Saleh said, “I am happy that India is embarking on this project. It is bound to inspire future generation of Indian sailors.”
