09-10-2005, 06:34 AM
Boat to retrace India-Oman history sinks
IANS[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2005 08:09:14 PM ]
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MUSCAT: A reed boat that sought to recreate 4,000 years of India-Oman history and retrace the route that established their trade links in the bronze age has capsized off Oman.
Indian officials here said the boat capsized Wednesday night soon after it set sail, though its eight-member crew, including Indian archaeologist Alok Tripathi, were safe.
"Water leaked into the boat causing it to capsize, but a support ship from the Omani Royal Navy accompanying the boat intervened and rescued the sailors," an official at the culture and national heritage ministry said.
The boat had been flagged with much fanfare to mark the 50 years of diplomatic links between the Sultanate of Oman and India. India established a consulate in Muscat in 1955, while the Sultanate set up its embassy in New Delhi in 1972.
The eight men hoped to land at Mandvi in the Kutch region of Gujarat Sep 22 on the Neolithic boat laden with a cargo of dates, lime, dried fish, salt and copper vessels that will be handed to officials at a ceremony in Dwarka.
The sailboat - named Magan after the Sumerian description for Oman - was to first dock at Dwarka Sep 20, before setting sail to the final destination of Mandvi port.
There were no engines and no modern gadgets on the 12 m long reed vessel, which started its voyage Sep 7 from Sur on the same route that had linked Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula to the Indus civilisation.
The crew hoped to use sail power to navigate the distance of about 500 nautical miles and expected to complete the voyage in some 15 days, riding the waves and the monsoon winds, with the birds, sun, moon and the stars as guides.
<b>
The Archaeological Survey of Oman had sponsored this expedition, encouraged by an excavation mission at Ras Al Jinz in the 1990s during which they found 300 odd fragments of bitumen lining. </b>
IANS[ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2005 08:09:14 PM ]
Citibank NRI Offer
MUSCAT: A reed boat that sought to recreate 4,000 years of India-Oman history and retrace the route that established their trade links in the bronze age has capsized off Oman.
Indian officials here said the boat capsized Wednesday night soon after it set sail, though its eight-member crew, including Indian archaeologist Alok Tripathi, were safe.
"Water leaked into the boat causing it to capsize, but a support ship from the Omani Royal Navy accompanying the boat intervened and rescued the sailors," an official at the culture and national heritage ministry said.
The boat had been flagged with much fanfare to mark the 50 years of diplomatic links between the Sultanate of Oman and India. India established a consulate in Muscat in 1955, while the Sultanate set up its embassy in New Delhi in 1972.
The eight men hoped to land at Mandvi in the Kutch region of Gujarat Sep 22 on the Neolithic boat laden with a cargo of dates, lime, dried fish, salt and copper vessels that will be handed to officials at a ceremony in Dwarka.
The sailboat - named Magan after the Sumerian description for Oman - was to first dock at Dwarka Sep 20, before setting sail to the final destination of Mandvi port.
There were no engines and no modern gadgets on the 12 m long reed vessel, which started its voyage Sep 7 from Sur on the same route that had linked Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula to the Indus civilisation.
The crew hoped to use sail power to navigate the distance of about 500 nautical miles and expected to complete the voyage in some 15 days, riding the waves and the monsoon winds, with the birds, sun, moon and the stars as guides.
<b>
The Archaeological Survey of Oman had sponsored this expedition, encouraged by an excavation mission at Ras Al Jinz in the 1990s during which they found 300 odd fragments of bitumen lining. </b>