No Engine, No Nails: Inside the Indian Navy's Most Unique Ship

 

Meet INSV Kaundinya, a heritage vessel constructed using ancient joinery and rope-stitching techniques, where wooden planks are literally stitched together. On December 29, 2025, the ship set sail from Porbandar, Gujarat, to Muscat, Oman, testing India’s ancient seafaring knowledge on modern waters. The project is the brainchild of Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, and is named after Kaundinya, the earliest Indian mariner known by name. Believed to have lived in the first century AD, Kaundinya sailed from India across the Bay of Bengal and went on to found the Kingdom of Funan in Southeast Asia — spreading Indian culture, trade, and governance across the region.