INSV Kaundinya to sail on maiden overseas voyage, reviving India’s ancient shipbuilding legacy

The Indian Navy’s pioneering stitched sailing vessel, INSV Kaundinya , will embark on her maiden overseas voyage on December 29, sailing from Porbandar in Gujarat to Muscat in Oman, symbolically retracing historic maritime routes that connected India with the wider Indian Ocean world for centuries.

Built using the ancient stitched-plank shipbuilding technique, INSV Kaundinya represents a rare revival of India’s indigenous maritime knowledge. Unlike modern ships constructed with steel and welding, the vessel’s wooden planks are stitched together using coconut coir rope and sealed with natural resins, a method once widely practiced along India’s coastline and across the Indian Ocean. This flexible yet resilient technology enabled Indian mariners to undertake long-distance sea voyages to West Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia long before the advent of modern navigation and metallurgy.

Inspired by depictions of ancient Indian ships, the vessel blends traditional craftsmanship with modern naval expertise. The project was undertaken under a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and M/s Hodi Innovations, as part of efforts to rediscover and revive India’s indigenous knowledge systems. Traditional artisans built the ship under the guidance of master shipwright Shri Babu Sankaran, supported by extensive research, design, and testing conducted by the Indian Navy and academic institutions. The vessel has been certified as fully seaworthy and capable of ocean navigation.

Named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times, the ship underscores India’s long-standing identity as a maritime civilisation. While modern ships dominate today’s seas, INSV Kaundinya is not merely a display vessel but an operational sailing ship, proving that ancient Indian shipbuilding techniques were both sophisticated and effective.

The maiden voyage to Oman is being seen as a major achievement not only in successfully reviving and sailing a ship built using an old indigenous technique, but also in reaffirming India’s historic role in global maritime trade and cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean.