The story of the Jewel of Muscat This is the story of how the Jewel was built, and of the adventures that took place during her historic voyage. If you'd like to learn more about the events leading up to the project and about the modern state of Oman, see the Background pages.

A lasting legacy In October 2011 Jewel of Muscat went on permanent display to the public in the Maritime Experiential Museum in Sentosa Resorts World, Singapore. She forms part of a larger exhibition that tells the story of the Maritime Silk Route. Jewel of Muscat stands as a living symbol of the positive bilateral

Journey’s end The arrival in Georgetown, Malaysia on June 2nd 2010 was a huge relief for the crew and marked a new phase in the voyage. Once again Jewel was welcomed with friendship and generous hospitality before she set sail on the last two short legs of her voyage. Following the coast of Malaysia,

Battling the storm This shorter leg of just ten days should have been straightforward, but only days out from port, Jewel ran into fierce storms with winds up to 43 knots. Once the storm had passed, the crew discovered that one of the masts had cracked. But Jewel carried plenty of spare wood and

Arrival in India After 28 days at sea, Jewel arrived safely in Cochin, surrounded by welcoming ships. Dignitaries from Oman and India greeted the crew before dancing and celebrations broke out on the quayside. Jewel’s crew, relieved to be on land again, were greeted as heroes and welcomed with warm hospitality at a series

Following ancient routes During the voyage the crew used traditional 9th-century navigation tools such as the kamal, as well as modern techniques to further our understanding of ancient navigation techniques. Following the ancient routes followed by Omani sailors centuries before them, the ship was blown by the seasonal northeast monsoon wind. The aim was

A view from the top mast Life on board Jewel and her crew of 17 now settled down to the task of sailing the ship some 1,200 miles to Kochi in southern India. With no engine, the ship was entirely dependent on her sails which meant the crew, divided into two watches, had to be

Setting sail Over the following two weeks Jewel was loaded with stores and the final preparations were made. Then at exactly 12 noon on February 16th or the 1st of Rabie Al-Awwal 1431 AH, Jewel slipped her moorings to begin the first leg of her epic voyage to Singapore. Large crowds cheered her on

Preparing for sea The next major milestone for Jewel was passed in January when she completed her first sea trial off the coast of Oman near Muscat. In the following weeks, Captain Saleh and his crew faced up to the challenge of learning how to sail a 1,000-year-old ship with traditional rigging and heavy

Launching the ship As the construction team worked on the decking, engineers were called in to prepare for the launch of Jewel. A track was laid down to carry the 23-tonne ship 100 metres down the beach into the sea. Then a huge cradle had to be built to support the ship. The process