Malabar shipwright's dream sails with Indian Navy

A autochthonal shipwright’s imagination to trade a masterpiece for his ain state came to fruition erstwhile the Indian Navy’s pioneering stitched sailing vessel, INSV Kaundinya, embarked connected her maiden voyage from Porbandar to Oman connected December 29, 2025. Babu Sankaran, a 61-year-old carpenter from Kozhikode district’s Vadakara, was the craftsman down the sailing mission, which was completed connected clip with the enactment of a squad of 20 carpenters from the Malabar region.

“It was a imagination travel existent erstwhile we got the telephone from the Navy officials to realise Kaundinya, marking a uncommon confluence of craftsmanship, past and modern naval expertise. The enactment began successful December 2023, wholly utilizing the accepted stitched-plank techniques,” recalled Mr. Sankaran, the maestro shipwright. He said the woody planks utilized for the 19.6-metre-long vessel were stitched unneurotic utilizing coconut coir enactment and sealed with earthy resins, preserving the dexterity of the erstwhile prevalent contented on India’s coasts and crossed the Indian Ocean.

This Vadakara native, who had been portion of six specified salient projects successful antithetic parts of India and abroad, said the full carpenters’ squad from Malabar camped astatine a shipyard successful Goa to guarantee the time-bound completion of the task supervised by Navy officers. He said the squad was capable to decorativeness it successful 16 months with a dedicated labour force.

The prime wood and different large earthy materials were procured from a agrarian timber manufacture astatine Alakode successful Kannur district. Only the enactment of well-experienced autochthonal carpenters was sourced to execute the mission. There were besides instructions to the squad members to support confidentiality related to the task expenses, unsocial factors of design, and different unnoticeable customisations.

Reviving indigenous knowledge

According to Navy sources, the task was undertaken done a tripartite MoU betwixt the Ministry of Culture, Indian Navy, and M/S Hodi Innovations arsenic portion of India’s efforts to rediscover and revive indigenous cognition systems isolated from embodying its historical relation arsenic a maritime nation.

The Indian Navy and the related world institutions were down the extended probe down the design. The vessel, which was inducted arsenic an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel into work connected May 21, 2025, is named aft legendary mariner Kaundinya who is believed to person sailed from India to Southeast Asia successful the past times.

According to the craftsmen who worked with the team, the vessel, to beryllium based astatine Karwar, incorporated respective culturally important features successful a originative way. Her sails show motifs of the mythical two-headed Gandabherunda bird and the Sun, her bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali, a almighty mythical carnal with a lion’s caput and a symbolic Harappan benignant chromatic anchor astatine the deck, they said.

For Mr. Sankaran, Kaundinya besides emerged arsenic grounds to the Navy’s spot connected the accepted shipbuilders successful the Malabar region. “I had to discontinue my ceremonial acquisition aft Class V, but the accidental arsenic a shipwright with the Indian Navy was similar a beingness achievement. The lone symptom is that nary caller procreation carpenters are present entering this tract to instrumentality it forward,” helium noted.