INSV Kaundinya Reached Oman | 24 Jan 2026

Source: PIB 

INSV Kaundinya reached Muscat’s Port Sultan Qaboos after completing its maiden voyage from Porbandar (Gujarat), highlighting the shared maritime heritage of India and Oman. 

• Eutelsat (French satellite operator) provided high-speed satellite connectivity to the INSV Kaundinya team via its OneWeb satellite constellation. 

INSV Kaundinya 

• About: INSV Kaundinya is India’s first ‘stitched ship’ built using the ancient stitched shipbuilding (Tankai) method. It aims to revive the 2000-year-old Tankai method, a forgotten indigenous technique. 
  • Tankai Method: An ancient technique using stitched planks (with coir ropes) and no metal fasteners (like iron nails), making ships flexible and rust-proof.  
    • Employs indigenous materials like coir, dammar resin, and animal fat for waterproofing. 
    • Involves a unique hull-first construction, unlike Western frame-first methods. 
• Design & Inspiration: Modeled after vessels depicted in the 5th-century Ajanta cave paintings. The design draws inspiration from the ancient Sanskrit text Yuktikalpataru (by King Bhoja, 9th century CE) and accounts of foreign travellers. 
  • Features symbolic motifs like the Gandabherunda (two-headed eagle of the Kadamba dynasty emblem), Sun motifs, Simha Yali (mythical lion), and a Harappan-style stone anchor. 
• Historical Significance: Named after Kaundinya, a legendary 1st-century Indian mariner to make overseas voyages with global historical impact. Kaundinya is credited with sailing to the Mekong Delta and co-founding the Kingdom of Funan (modern Cambodia), one of the earliest Indianised states in Southeast Asia.