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 Feb 2025 at Goa.Unlike contemporary vessels, her wooden planks are stitched together using coconut coir rope and sealed with natural resins, reflecting a shipbuilding tradition once prevalent along India’s coasts and across the Indian Ocean.This technology, MoD added, enabled Indian mariners to undertake long-distance voyages to West Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia long before the advent of modern navigation and metallurgy.The project was undertaken through a tripartite MoU between the Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy and Hodi Innovations as part of India’s efforts to rediscover and revive indigenous knowledge systems.As the MoD earlier said, the boat has been “Built by traditional artisans under the guidance of master shipwright Babu Sankaran and supported by extensive research, design and testing by the Indian Navy and academic institutions, the vessel is fully seaworthy and capable of oceanic navigation.”Named after the legendary mariner Kaundinya, who is believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in ancient times, the ship embodies India’s historic role as a maritime nation.
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Varanasi police issue lookout circular against prime accused, three others
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