Muscat: Tom Vosmer, the Jewel of Muscat designer and Project Director, overcame with emotions as the wind-powered sailboat, built in Oman, berthed on Monday at the Kochi Port in south of India.
"I have few tears in my eyes," Vosmer told Gulf News over phone from Kochi as he choked with emotions at the sight of the ninth century replica merchant vessel at the Indian port.
"She is in fine shape and I am really happy to see her anchored at the first call of port," he enthused.
Vosmer, an archaeologist, could not board the Jewel of Muscat when it left Omani shores due to bad back but flew to the Indian port to receive the boat that he has nurtured as his own child right from the first day of construction at the sleepy fishing hamlet of Qantab.
The sailboat, a gift from Sultan Qaboos to Singapore and built with the help of wood and coconut ropes, is on a 3000-mile voyage from Muscat to Singapore where it will be converted into a museum.
It is a model of the wreck of a timber-and- coconut rope dhow, salvaged in 2004 in Indonesia's Belitung Straits.
The discovery of the wreck excited maritime scholars, who viewed it as solid proof of a maritime silk route from West Asia to China.
The salvaged boat had a cargo of 60,000 ceramic plates and pots from the Tang Dynasty, which are currently kept in Singapore.
"The replica dhow with the discoveries of Tang Dynasty would be kept in a museum in Singapore," added Vosmer.
Vosmer added that the sailboat will be taken out of the water for a full hull inspection, and the necessary maintenance.
