Kochi: At a small yard in Kochi’s Thoppumpady, a weathered wooden boat is getting a second life. Once written off as scrap, it turned out to be something far more valuable. The vessel, known as ML Vasco, was spared from dismantling by a local scrap dealer who recognised its history, not just its worth. Because it was the personal boat of Sir Robert Bristow, the British engineer who built the Cochin Port and shaped modern Kochi.

In 2010, Sajar Sithara, managing partner of the Sithara Group, went to the Cochin Port Trust to collect a few items he had bought in an auction. Among the piles of rusted metal, there was a small teakwood boat. It was listed as scrap and valued at ₹2 lakh.

“We bought it thinking it was just another old boat. But when we were loading it onto the truck, a port official told us it once belonged to Sir Robert Bristow. That changed everything,” Sajar recalled.

Bristow, known as the father of modern Kochi, had used this very boat while building the city’s defining landmarks like the Cochin Port, the Venduruthy Bridge, the Thoppumpady Bridge, and Willingdon Island. For Sajar, who had spent nearly three decades dismantling ships and boats, the discovery was extraordinary.

Boat that carried Kochi’s vision
To understand ML Vasco’s significance, one has to go back more than a century. When Bristow arrived in Kochi in 1920, large ships could not enter the harbour because of a massive sandbar blocking the channel. Each morning, he would set out in his small teak boat, studying and surveying the sea and the currents.

In 1926, he brought a dredger, Lord Willingdon, from Scotland to deepen the harbour. Two years later, in 1928, the steamship SS Padma became the first vessel to enter the new inner harbour, marking the birth of the modern Cochin Port. The mud dredged from the seabed was used to create Willingdon Island, now home to the Cochin Port Authority and the Naval Base.

The boat, ML Vasco, was Bristow’s constant companion during those years of transformation. It was from this very boat that he watched Kochi change forever.

When the Sithara Group acquired the boat, they found that it had survived time remarkably well. “It is built entirely of teakwood, with brass fittings and a copper-plated hull. It is 24ft long and 8ft wide. The quality of the wood is so good that even after decades, it needed only polishing,” said Sajar.

The boat still carries the hallmarks of its craftsmanship. The door to the cabin is lifted upwards so that even a tall person can enter comfortably. The interiors are made of teak, and the steering wheel is made of brass and wood. The boat has a British-made two-cylinder Ruston Lincoln engine. It has a passenger cabin at the rear that can seat up to 10 people, with sliding windows and a brass railing along the deck.

“According to the port officials, the boat must have been built around 1918. So, it is at least 107 years old now. But the quality of the material used, it is very durable” Sajar said.

Six months ago, the Sithara Group began restoring ML Vasco. Every inch of the boat is being revived carefully, with attention to its original design. “We have replaced broken planks with the best quality teak available. The next step is to fix the glass panes for the windows while keeping the look authentic. We’re also trying to source old-style brass lamps that were once used as signal lights,” said Julker Sithara, also managing partner of the Sithara Group and Sajar’s nephew.

According to Sebastian Joseph, historian and academic coordinator of the Kerala History Congress, Sajar is doing what the Cochin Port Trust should have done decades ago. “He is conserving a piece of scrap he bought, and the fact that he is spending lakhs on it shows a genuine historical sensibility. The Cochin Port should have taken the initiative to preserve it, as the boat was used by the very man who built the port,” Joseph said.

He added that Kochi has lost several important historical artefacts in the past due to neglect. “The train engines used for the old Cochin State Forest Tramway between Parambikulam and Chalakudy, dismantled in 1963, were also scrapped instead of being conserved. Now, we only have photographs left. Preserving such material remnants is just as important as protecting historical documents,” he said.

For Sajar’s family, the restoration is not just about preserving a boat, but it is about protecting a piece of Kochi’s identity. “A few people have offered us crores to buy it. But this is not for sale. It is a priceless boat that is part of Kochi’s history,” Sajar said.

They plan to display ML Vasco publicly once restoration is complete. “It should be something people can see and learn from. We want to place it in one of our upcoming projects, maybe our new convention centre. We are also open to collaborating with the Kochi Biennale so that more people can appreciate its legacy,” Julker said.

Julker also has another dream about the old boat. “We have often wondered if it could sail again. After restoration, we will study the old engine and see if we can get it running. It is not for regular use, but just to feel the robust performance,” he said.