Aries Punnamada Chundan

Aries Punnamada Chundan is one of the innovative projects from Aries Marine & Engineering Services is the longest snake boat (Chundan Vallam) made of steel. Aries Punnamada Chundan has a length of 144 ft and can accommodate upto 141 rowers. This snake boat has found place in the Limca Book of Records as the longest snake boat made of steel and is all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

Kerala’s snake boats have long, tapering front portion and the rear portion towering to a height of about 20 ft. It resembles a snake with its hood raised. They have a length of about 110 to 138 ft and a carrying capacity of a hundred to hundred and ten people. Snake boats are the traditional battle vessels of Kerala and they were originally designed as a naval vessel used for battle.

According to Mr. Sohan Roy, the Naval Architect of the project, the aim of this innovative concept is to create an international market for snake boats. The steel snake boat could make revolutionary changes in Kerala’s tourism sector since the present snake boats, made of wood are used only for certain events in a year and become idle during the rest of the time. International exposure would make sure that the boats are not idle for any part of the year.

What makes the Aries Punnamada Chundan stand apart from other traditional snake-boats is its scientific design. The existing 18 traditional snake boats in the state have eighteen different lengths, breadths, depths and carrying capacities. There is no scientific method to substantiate the stability, strength, buoyancy and speed of the wooden snake boats. On the other hand the Aries’ steel snake boat’s design is finalised based on the latest scientific methods in Naval Architecture. Its shape and stability have been designed using the world famous ‘AUTOSHIP’ software. The strength has been analysed by finite element method. An overhanging test was also conducted to analyse the longitudinal strength practically and a sinking test to prove its 'unsinkability'.

The Engineering strength of Aries Design team was fully utilised for this challenging project to rewrite the 200 year old conventional Snakeboat design for higher speed and better stability. Experts in the field of ship design like Dr. Pyarilal S.K, from Cochin University of Science and Technology, have given the final expert opinion. Moreover, in order to maintain the traditional concept of snake boat building, the construction has been entrusted with a traditional Thachan (carpenter) Mr. Surendra Babu Kainakari. The effort of this team is well publicised by the media and accepted by people from different walks of life.