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MUSCAT, OMAN: The Jewel of Muscat, a symbol of the close ties between Singapore and Oman, has been named.
The Jewel of Muscat is a special gift from the Sultan of Oman to Singapore.
Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong was at the naming ceremony of the reconstructed 9th century dhow in Oman.
He said Singapore is looking for the best place to exhibit the Jewel of Muscat when it arrives in the middle of the year.
Work on the Jewel of Muscat started in October 2008 and the 18-metre ship was built without nails. The planks were sewn together with coconut fibre, and had to fit perfectly so as to ensure that the ship is watertight. The wood is protected by a layer of goat fat mixed with lime.
Tom Vosmer, director of construction for Jewel of Muscat project, said: "All we need to do rather than nail things together is drill a number of pairs of holes along each plank and sew together with ropes and half stitch and cross stitch and there are about 20,000 holes and 120 kilometres of rope used to hold the planks together."
Senior Minister Goh said he believes the dhow will be placed on land when it arrives in Singapore as it can be best preserved that way.
But he believes it will take some time before Singapore can have a maritime museum.
SM Goh said: "Singaporeans and in fact tourists, they don't just go to a museum to look at some lifeless pieces of ceramics. So, we haven't found a good model yet to attract people to go to look at historic structures and artefacts and at the same time be interactive."
Since its completion, the Jewel of Muscat has been undergoing sea trials and it starts to set sail from Muscat in the middle of February. The Jewel of Muscat is expected to arrive in Singapore sometime in June or July this year.
During its sail, the ship will retrace part of the maritime Silk Route using 9th century navigational techniques. It will stop over in India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia before reaching Singapore.
The Jewel of Muscat has an 18-man crew and joining them on the leg from Muscat to India is foreign service officer Jeff Khoo from Singapore's Foreign Ministry.
- CNA/ir
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