INSV Kaundinya docks in Muscat, reviving India's ancient maritime glory

Marking the successful completion of the journey, the Indian Navy's indigenously built traditional stitched sailing vessel, INSV Kaundinya, was given a water salute on Wednesday.

As the vessel completed its voyage, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal hailed the mission, calling the ship "a shining example" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effort to revive India's maritime legacy.

Speaking on the significance of the expedition, Sonowal said, "INSV Kaundinya is a shining example of PM Modi's visionary leadership. It was his resolve to revive India's ancient shipbuilding genius and present it proudly before the world."

Emphasising the symbolism of the vessel, the Union Minister added, "This ship represents the timeless strength of our maritime heritage marked by skill and enduring innovation."

Highlighting the inspiration behind the vessel's design and identity, Sonowal said, "The ship draws inspiration from a 5th-century vessel depicted in the Ajanta cave, and it is named after legendary sailor Kaundinya."

The ship had departed from Gujarat's Porbandar on December 29, 2025.

The voyage was undertaken by a crew comprising four officers and 13 naval sailors, with the expedition skippered by Commander Vikas Sheoran and Commander Y Hemant Kumar serving as the Officer-in-Charge. Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal, who was part of the crew, shared daily updates about the ship on social media.

INSV Kaundinya is a stitched sail ship, based on a 5th-century CE ship depicted in the paintings of the Ajanta Caves, reviving a traditional form of shipbuilding associated with India's ancient maritime history.

The project was initiated through a tripartite agreement signed in July 2023 between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and M/s Hodi Innovations, with funding from the Ministry of Culture.

Following the keel laying in September 2023, the vessel's construction was undertaken using a traditional method of stitching by a team of skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran. Over several months, the team stitched wooden planks on the ship's hull using coir rope, coconut fibre, and natural resin.

The ship was launched in February 2025 in Goa, after which the Indian Navy played a central role in overseeing the design, technical validation, and construction process.

With no surviving blueprints of such vessels, the design had to be inferred from iconographic sources. The Navy collaborated with the shipbuilder to recreate the hull form and traditional rigging and ensured that the design was validated through hydrodynamic model testing at the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, and internal technical assessments.

The newly inducted vessel incorporates several culturally significant features. Its sails display motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, its bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali, and a symbolic Harappan-style stone anchor adorns its deck, with each element reflecting ancient Indian maritime traditions.

Named after Kaundinya, the legendary Indian mariner who sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, the ship serves as a symbol of India's long-standing traditions of maritime exploration, trade, and cultural exchange.

- ANI