Posted on 09/16/2005 9:00:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway
MUSCAT -- A traditional sailboat that capsized in the Arabian Sea hours after setting off from Oman for India on September 7 has sunk, and efforts are underway to recover it, organizers said on Saturday.
"The India-bound Magan sank and efforts are now underway to recover the boat," the Omani culture and national heritage ministry said.
The ministry said, however, that it would build a similar sailboat in a fresh bid to revive a tradition going back thousands of years.
A ministry source said on September 7 that the Magan capsized after water leaked into it, but a support ship from the Omani Royal Navy accompanying the boat intervened and rescued the eight sailors on board.
Sailors from Oman, India, Australia, Italy and France had been hoping to rely on stars, waves and the color of the sky and sea to find their way to Mandvi in India's western state of Gujarat during a voyage lasting up to two weeks.
However, Magan had been fitted with some radars and safety equipment and was trailed by a navy support ship.
Magan, named after a civilization about 5,000 years old believed to have emerged in what is now Oman, sailed from Sur, 300 kilometers (190 miles) south of Muscat. It was to cross the Arabian Sea carrying fish, pottery filled with Omani honey, incense, copper and other traditional foodstuffs and wares.
Abdel Hamid Bin Yarub Busaidi, undersecretary, told reporters on Saturday that the ministry had set up a technical committee to examine the reasons for the failure of the project, and its findings would be used to ensure that the experiment succeeds next time.
Busaidi said that the project had cost some $350,000. It would have cost around $455,000 if the boat had reached its destination.
I remember an early seventies National Geographic article about the dhows. The hull shape never actually died out but in the photos you can see they have dispensed with sails entirely.
Hint, hint: ...the Magan capsized after water leaked into it...
They should have gone with the Sparkman & Stephens model.
It's American, and it's better.
This doesn't sound right, I'd read that dhows regularly bring illegal immigrants from India to Oman, which is a wonderful place to be.
I think someone is pulling our leg.
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