Navy to sail wooden ship made with 2,500-year-old technique to Oman

The Indian Navy will induct a ‘stitched ship’ made using ancient techniques to recreate a 5^th-century CE ship, inspired by a painting from the Ajanta Caves, and it plans to sail the wooden ship from Gujarat to Oman. The Navy said on Tuesday that “preparations for the vessel’s maiden transoceanic voyage from Gujarat to Oman are under way”. The ceremonial event to induct the ship would be held on Wednesday (May 21) at the Naval Base, Karwar.  

The Union Minister of Culture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, will preside over the ceremony as the chief guest, formally marking the induction of the ship into the Indian Navy. The project was initiated through a tripartite agreement signed in July 2023 between the Ministry of Culture, Indian Navy and  Hodi Innovations, with funding from the Ministry of Culture.

The construction of the ‘stitched ship’ was carried out using entirely traditional methods, and raw materials by artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran.

The Indian Navy has overseen the entire spectrum of implementation of this project, including concept development, design, technical validation and construction in collaboration with Hodi Innovations and traditional artisans. The design and construction posed unique technical challenges.

With no surviving blueprints or physical remnants, the design had to be extrapolated from a two-dimensional artistic iconography. The project demanded a unique interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological interpretation, Naval architecture, hydrodynamic testing and traditional craftsmanship. Unlike any modern vessel, the stitched ship is equipped with square sails and steering oars, which are entirely alien to modern-day ships. The hull geometry, rigging and sails had to be reimagined and tested from first principles.

The Indian Navy collaborated with the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, to conduct model testing to validate the vessel’s hydrodynamic behaviour at sea. Further, the Indian Navy undertook an in-house structural analysis to assess the wooden mast system, designed and constructed without the use of contemporary materials.

Every aspect of the ship had to balance historical authenticity with seaworthiness, leading to design choices that were both innovative and true to the maritime traditions of ancient India. The combination of a stitched hull, square sails, wooden spars and traditional steering mechanisms makes the vessel unlike any ship currently in the naval service anywhere in the world.

The successful completion of the construction of the ‘stitched ship’ represents the completion of the first and most formidable phase, bringing to life, from an artistic depiction, a fully functional sea-going vessel.

India