INSV Kaundinya Begins Maiden Voyage to Oman

New Delhi: The Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya, a recreation of a fifth-century ship built using India’s traditional stitched shipbuilding techniques, on Monday set sail on its maiden overseas voyage steered by giant oars rather than a rudder, with two fixed square sails to catch seasonal monsoon winds. Its first voyage across the seas is a 1,400-km journey to Oman's capital Muscat from Porbandar in Gujarat. The historic expedition will showcase the ship built not to dominate the seas but to remember how India once traversed them.

The vessel is inspired by a painting from the ancient Ajanta Caves and is named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times. With no surviving blueprints or physical remnants, the design was extrapolated from two-dimensional artistic iconography, officials said. The project required an interdisciplinary approach involving archaeological interpretation, naval architecture, hydrodynamic testing and traditional craftsmanship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the designers, artisans, shipbuilders and the Indian Navy for their efforts in bringing the unique vessel to life. “Wonderful to see that INSV Kaundinya is embarking on her maiden voyage from Porbandar to Muscat, Oman. Built using the ancient Indian stitched-ship technique, this ship highlights India’s rich maritime traditions,” he said in a post on X.

“This voyage reconnects the past with the present,” Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan said, sending the ship off from Porbandar, in India's western state of Gujarat, on an estimated two-week crossing.

“We are not only retracing ancient pathways of trade, navigation, and cultural exchange, but also reaffirming India's position as a natural maritime bridge across the Indian Ocean.”The journey evokes a time when Indian sailors were regular traders with the Roman Empire, the Middle East, Africa, and lands to the east -- today's Thailand, Indonesia, China and as far as Japan.

INSV Kaundinya has been constructed entirely using traditional stitched shipbuilding methods with natural materials, reflecting India’s legacy of indigenous shipbuilding, seamanship and oceanic navigation. The voyage retraces ancient maritime routes that once connected India’s western coast with Oman, enabling trade, cultural exchange and civilisational links across the Indian Ocean.

“The monsoon winds that once guided traditional ships between our ports also carried a shared understanding that prosperity grows when we remain connected, open and cooperative.”The journey is daunting. The ship's builders have refused modern shortcuts, instead relying on traditional shipbuilding methods.

“Life on board is basic -- no cabins, just the deck,” said crew member Sanjeev Sanyal, the 55-year-old historian who conceived the project, who is also Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic adviser.

“We sleep on hammocks hanging from the mast,” he said before the voyage.

Sanyal, an Oxford-educated scholar and former international banker, drew up the blueprints with traditional shipwrights, basing designs on descriptions from ancient texts, paintings and coins.

“Vasco da Gama is 500 years back,” he said, referring to the Portuguese sailor who reached India in 1498. “This is 6,000-, 7,000-year-old history.”- 'So much gold'

“India was running such large surpluses with the Romans that you have Pliny the Elder... complaining that they were losing so much gold to India,” Sanyal said.

The ship's only modern power source is a small battery for a radio transponder and navigation lights, because wooden vessels do not show up well on radar.

“When you hit a big wave, you can see the hull cave in a little bit”, he said, explaining that the stitched design allowed it to flex.

“But it is one thing to know this in theory,” he said. “It is quite another thing to build one of these and have skin in the game by sailing it oneself.”

Following the keel-laying in September 2023, construction was carried out by a team of skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran. Over several months, wooden planks were painstakingly stitched together using coir rope, coconut fibre and natural resin. The vessel was launched in February 2025 at the Hodi Shipyard in Goa.

The ship features several culturally significant elements and will be based at Karwar in Karnataka. Its sails carry motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, the bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali, and a Harappan-style stone anchor adorns the deck. Unlike modern vessels, the stitched ship is fitted with square sails and steering oars, features entirely absent in contemporary ship design. According to the Navy, the hull geometry, rigging and sails were designed and tested from first principles.

Commander Vikas Sheoran will skipper the vessel, while Commander Y. Hemant Kumar, associated with the project since its inception, will serve as Officer-in-Charge of the expedition. The crew comprises four officers and 13 naval sailors.

The expedition is expected to strengthen India–Omani relations by reinforcing shared maritime heritage and deepening cultural and people-to-people ties. The Indian Navy said the arrival of INSV Kaundinya in Muscat would symbolise the enduring bonds of friendship and historical cooperation between the two maritime nations.