Jewel of Muscat

After a night of torrential downpours and lightning streaking overhead, the Jewel of Muscat safely docked in the port of Galle in Sri Lanka at 9am local time on 19th April where the crew received a festive welcome. His Excellency Ahmed bin Yousif Al Harthy, Undersecretary for Diplomatic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and His Excellency Humaid bin Ali Al Maani, Oman's Ambassador to India and Sri Lanka headed up an official delegation from Oman who warmly greeted the crew as they set foot on dry land for the first time since departing Kochi, India on the 10th April.

Hundreds of local Sri Lankan school children waving Omani flags joined a dance troupe and the Sri Lankan Naval band to celebrate the historic visit of the Jewel of Muscat to Galle as she journeys to Singapore. Local dignitaries and senior officials from Sri Lanka including His Worshipfulness The Mayor of Galle, formally welcomed the crew. His Excellency Humaid bin Ali Al Maani thanked the Sri Lankans officials for all the preparations and support of the Jewel of Muscat project and said "The arrival of the Jewel of Muscat celebrates the cultural ties that have existed for hundreds of thousands of years of antiquity and the melting pot of culture that we have all thrived in. This relationship continues to grow quickly, especially with the new direct flights with Oman Air from Muscat to Columbo." His Excellency also mentioned that the Jewel of Muscat was living proof of the sustainability between all the countries around the Indian rim in general. He then finished his speech by thanking the Sri Lankans for the kind hospitality they have given to the crew and the Omani delegation.

Oman TV and Omani journalists from Muscat also made the journey from the Sultanate to witness this historic moment in person. Also present was the BBC's correspondent to Sri Lanka and all the major Sri Lankan papers and TV channels. Addressing the press conference, Captain Saleh Al-Jabri spoke on behalf of the crew as he told the media "The crew of the Jewel of Muscat are incredibly proud to be here in Galle. It has been 10 days since we left Kochi and even though this was shorter in time than the journey from Oman and the land of Frankincense to India, it has been the toughest so far. We are a crew of many nationalities, but we are working as one nation. Sailing in winds of 43 knots (80 Khph) is not easy for even an experienced sailor and a number of our crew had never been on board a ship before - let alone one built in the style of the 9th Century !" The media all laughed hard as Saleh concluded his speech by saying " We are all now looking forward to a very long shower. I suspect we will all look a little different when you next see us!"

Crew member Ahmed Mohammed Al-Adawi is another of the experience crew members on board. "Before I joined the Jewel of Muscat I worked with Shabab Oman for 13 years and then moved to Navy Headquarters. I am therefore very used to being out at sea, but a 9th Century wooden ship behaves very differently in strong wind to the modern ships we are all use to! The journey we are undertaking on the Jewel of Muscat is not easy. Sailing on this type of boat is dangerous. During heavy rainstorms water leaked inside the ship and this produces a smell which makes it very difficult to sleep. All our beds also got very wet! A few days before we arrived in Galle we found ourselves in a tropical storm - it is difficult to explain how strong the winds are, but it took us nearly 30 minutes to get the main sail down and during this time the ship was difficult to control. It then took us 14 hours non-stop to repair the mast to ensure that we arrived in Galle safely. I salute our ancestors who used to sail on this type of ship all the time - it really shows that Oman is a maritime nation. We are thankful that the only injury was a minor flesh injury I received from a rope burn from climbing the mast to change the navigation lights."

The Jewel of Muscat will now stay in the port of Galle while the crew source replacement wood to mend the main mast which cracked in the major storms that the crew witnessed last week. The crew are also extremely excited to explore this fabled country, which sits firmly in the tropics, benefits from regular rain and is thick in vegetation. Once the new mast is fitted, the Jewel of Muscat will sail across the Bay of Bengal to their next port of call in Georgetown, Malaysia.