The first ever steel snake boat, ‘Aries Chundan’ became the largest snake boat with a capacity for 141 crew members, by smashing the existing record held by a traditional snake boat with a crew capacity of 118 members.
The boat made an attempt to set the new record for the largest canoe with a crew of 141 rowers and five helmsmen on board. ‘Nadumbhagam Chundan’ which can carry 118 crew members holds the existing record.
The attempt of Aries Chundan was on May 1 on Punnamada backwaters. The boat has a length of 143 feet it has already found place in the Limca Book of Records as the longest snake boat made of steel.
Now this architectural marvel in steel is all set to enter the Guinness book of world records for achieving this stellar feat. Constructed by Aries marine and engineering services, this snake boat hogged the limelight when it made its presence felt on the 1st of May in the Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha, famous venue for the annual Nehru Trophy Boat race, which attracts tourists from far and wide.
The boat’s shape and stability had been designed using the famous ‘Autoship’ software. The strength had been analysed by a finite element method, an overhanging test was conducted to analyse the longitudinal strength and a sinking test was conducted to prove its ‘unsinkability.’