A Borobudur ship is the 8th century wooden double outrigger

Outrigger

An outrigger is a part of a boat's rigging which is rigid and extends beyond the side or gunwale of a boat.In an outrigger canoe and in sailboats such as the proa, an outrigger is a thin, long, solid, hull used to stabilise an inherently unstable main hull. The outrigger is positioned rigidly and...

 sailed vessel of Maritime Southeast Asia

Maritime Southeast Asia

Maritime Southeast Asia refers to the maritime region of Southeast Asia as opposed to mainland Southeast Asia and includes the modern countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, East Timor and Singapore....

 depicted in some of bas reliefs of Borobudur

Borobudur

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues...

 buddhist monument in Central Java

Central Java

Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. The function of outrigger is to stabilize the ship, the single or double outrigger canoe

Outrigger canoe

The outrigger canoe is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull...

 is the typical feature of the sea faring Austronesians vessels and the most likely the type of vessel used for their voyages and exploration across Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

, Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

, and Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

. The ships depicted on Borobudur was most likely the type of vessels used for inter-insular trades and naval campaign by Sailendra

Sailendra

Sailendra is the name of an influential Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java.The Sailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, including the world famous Borobudur.The Sailendras are considered to be a...

n and Srivijaya

Srivijaya

Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...

n thalassocracy

Thalassocracy

The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea, such as Athens or the Phoenician network of merchant cities...

 empire that rules the region around 7th to 13th century.

Borobudur ship expedition

The bas reliefs of Borobudur is known to depict everyday life of 8th century ancient Java, from the courtly palace life to those of commoners in the village. It depicted temple, marketplace, architecture, flora and fauna, dress, jewelry and fashion, as well as mode of transportation such as palanquin, horse carriage and ship. In 1982, Philip Beale a Briton

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 sailor previously served for British Royal Navy, visited Borobudur to study traditional ships and marine traditions, he was fascinated with ten bas relief images of ancient vessels depicted on Borobudur. Since then he planned to reconstruct this ancient ship and reenacted the ancient maritime trade route. Working from very limited data — 5 stone carvings — Philip Beale plans to head an expedition team in reconstructing the ship and sailing it from Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 in Indonesia to Madagascar and then hopefully on around the Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

 to the west coast of Africa.
Extensive research and design work has preceded the building of the ship by a team of experienced Indonesian ship builders. The team are practiced in constructing ships using traditional building techniques. They are based in the Kangean Islands

Kangean Islands

The Kangean Islands form an archipelago part of Indonesia, are located in the Java Sea approximately north of Bali and 120 km east of Madura Island. The islands are administratively a part of Sumenep Regency within East Java province.The largest island, at about 490 km², is Kangean Island...

, some 60 miles north of Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

. Nick Burningham, an acknowledged expert on Indonesian watercraft and maritime archaeology, is supervising the building of the vessel. The ship was built by Assad Abdullah al-Madani, a seasoned Indonesian traditional ship builder and his men, with little more than a balsa wood model that Nick Burningham had created to help him. The vessel is named Samudra Raksa (defender of the seas) and was inaugurated in Benoa Harbor, Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 in 15 July 2003 by Minister for Tourism and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia I Gede Ardika together with Philippe Delanghe, UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Office Jakarta Program Specialist for Culture.

The expedition took place during the 6 months from August 2003 until February 2004. Started in Tanjung Priok

Tanjung Priok

Tanjung Priok is a subdistrict of North Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbour, the Port of Tanjung Priok...

 harbour, Jakarta on 30 August 2003, launched by President Megawati Sukarnoputri

Megawati Sukarnoputri

In this Indonesian name, the name "Sukarnoputri" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name "Megawati"....

, and arrived in the port of Tema, Accra

Accra

Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...

, Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

 on 23 February 2004. The epic voyage demonstrated ancient trading links between Indonesia and Africa (in particular East Africa and Madagascar). The treacherous Cinnamon shipping route took vessels from Indonesian waters across the Indian Ocean past the Seychelles

Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

, Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 to Ghana.

Today the Samudra Raksa ship is housed and displayed in Samudra Raksa Museum, located just a few hundred meters north of Borobudur

Borobudur

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues...

temple within the complex of Borobudur Archaeological Park. The Ship Museum Samudra Raksa was opened by Coordinating Minister for Welfare Prof.Dr. Alwi Shihab of the Republic of Indonesia on 31 August 2005. A fitting tribute to the crew and all who worked with and supported the Borobudur Ship Expedition.