Wednesday 14 / January / 2026
Muscat: The Indian Navy's indigenously built traditional stitched sailing vessel INSV Kaundinya received a grand welcome at Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat on Wednesday.
The ship was escorted to the port by a Royal Navy of Oman ship with another vessel giving a water salute and small boats with citizens welcoming the arduous journey of sailors from the Gujarat’s Porbandar port.
Indian 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 voyage, 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."
A large number of crowd, both citizens and Indian expats, had gathered at the port to welcome the sailors. Giving them grand reception was also an Omani military band whose music enthralled the visitors. Several traditional Indian dance troupes entertained the guests making the atmosphere festive.
Tavishi Behal Pandey, Deputy Chief of Mission of India, said: “We are here for a very special occasion where we are giving a warm reception to our sailors who have undertaken a maiden voyage to Oman from Porbandar. It got flagged off from The Gujarat port to celebrate this age- old relationship between Oman and India. It was a difficult journey as you can't have breaks in what and it has been a fabulous trip. They have faced winds, they have faced stormy seas, but they are here, and they are going to enter the boxing ring."
“I can describe my opinions into two aspects. Fortunate to be a part of it and to witness the journey which celebrates our maritime heritage.
“As a diplomat we had to ensure that our sailors who have put in a lot of hard work there, must get a grand welcome. Last year, as we have been celebrating 70 years of our Oman-India diplomatic relationship, we are geared to take this partnership to a next level. As you know, the comprehensive economic partnership agreement was also concluded during the visit of Indian Prime Minister recently. What was most important that our honorable Prime Minister coined the partnership between India and Oman during his visit as ‘Maitri’,” she added.
“The messages are to celebrate our traditional ties, which forms an important backdrop of trust, mutual friendship and brotherhood between the two countries,” she added.
Skippered by Commander Vikas Sheoran, with Commander Y Hemant Kumar, who has been associated with the project since its conceptualisation, serving as the Officer-in-Charge of the expedition, the crew comprises four officers and thirteen naval sailors.
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 Ajanta Caves. The project was initiated through a tripartite agreement signed in Jul 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 painstakingly stitched wooden planks on the ship's hull using coir rope, coconut fibre and natural resin. The ship was launched in February 2025 at Goa.
The Indian Navy played a central role in the project, 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 assessment.
The newly inducted vessel incorporates several culturally significant features. Her sails display motifs of the Gandabherunda and the Sun, her bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali, and a symbolic Harappan-style stone anchor adorns her deck, each element evoking the rich maritime traditions of ancient India.
Named after Kaundinya, the legendary Indian mariner who sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, the ship serves as a tangible symbol of India's long-standing traditions of maritime exploration, trade, and cultural exchange. (ANI)
