International Centre Goa (ICG) will organise a programme on India’s ‘Stitched Ship’ project and the revival of this ancient Indian ocean tradition on Tuesday, October 15 at 6pm.
Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and Captain Saleh Al Jabri, retired officer of the Royal Navy of Oman will be the two speakers. The ‘Stitched Ship’ project is the brainchild of Sanyal and is backed by the Ministry of Culture and the Indian Navy.
Captain Saleh had commanded a stitched ship of the Oman Navy on a five-month voyage from Muscat to Singapore in the year 2010. Both, Sanyal and Captain Saleh will speak on the long-enduring tradition of stitched ships.
Work has been underway at Divar Island since September 2023 to build a ‘stitched ship,’ a dying Indian Ocean tradition in which vessels were built by stitching wooden planks with coir rope. Other than ‘kettuvallams’ in Kerala, stitched boats can be found in Goa and in the Lakshadweep islands.
The stitched ship is being built by the father-son duo of Ratnakar and Prathmesh Dandekar who are considered to be among India’s premier boat builders. Babu Shankaran, who was involved in the Oman government’s stitched ship project is also part of this project.
The Indian Navy’s ‘stitched ship’ is expected to be ready next year and will go on a voyage with a crew of thirteen members from Cuttack to Bali in Indonesia in November 2025.
