Malabar shipwright's dream sails with Indian Navy

A native shipwright’s dream to craft a masterpiece for his own country came to fruition when the Indian Navy’s pioneering stitched sailing vessel, INSV Kaundinya, embarked on her maiden voyage from Porbandar to Oman on December 29, 2025. Babu Sankaran, a 61-year-old carpenter from Kozhikode district’s Vadakara, was the craftsman behind the sailing mission, which was completed on time with the support of a team of 20 carpenters from the Malabar region.

“It was a dream come true when we got the call from the Navy officials to realise Kaundinya, marking a rare confluence of craftsmanship, history and modern naval expertise. The work began in December 2023, entirely using the traditional stitched-plank techniques,” recalled Mr. Sankaran, the master shipwright. He said the wooden planks used for the 19.6-metre-long ship were stitched together using coconut coir rope and sealed with natural resins, preserving the dexterity of the once prevalent tradition along India’s coasts and across the Indian Ocean.

This Vadakara native, who had been part of six such prominent projects in different parts of India and abroad, said the whole carpenters’ team from Malabar camped at a shipyard in Goa to ensure the time-bound completion of the project supervised by Navy officers. He said the team was able to finish it in 16 months with a dedicated labour force.

The quality wood and other major raw materials were procured from a rural timber industry at Alakode in Kannur district. Only the support of well-experienced native carpenters was sourced to accomplish the mission. There were also instructions to the team members to maintain confidentiality related to the project expenses, unique factors of design, and other unnoticeable customisations.

According to Navy sources, the project was undertaken through a tripartite MoU between the Ministry of Culture, Indian Navy, and M/S Hodi Innovations as part of India’s efforts to rediscover and revive indigenous knowledge systems apart from embodying its historic role as a maritime nation.

The Indian Navy and the related academic institutions were behind the extensive research behind the design. The vessel, which was inducted as an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel into service on May 21, 2025, is named after legendary mariner Kaundinya who is believed to have sailed from India to Southeast Asia in the ancient times.

According to the craftsmen who worked with the team, the vessel, to be based at Karwar, incorporated several culturally significant features in a creative way. Her sails display motifs of the mythical two-headed Gandabherunda bird and the Sun, her bow bears a sculpted Simha Yali, a powerful mythical creature with a lion’s head and a symbolic Harappan style stone anchor at the deck, they said.

For Mr. Sankaran, Kaundinya also emerged as testimony to the Navy’s trust on the traditional shipbuilders in the Malabar region. “I had to discontinue my formal education after Class V, but the opportunity as a shipwright with the Indian Navy was like a lifetime achievement. The only pain is that no new generation carpenters are now entering this field to take it forward,” he noted.