Nakhoda's logbook

A nakhoda is the master or captain of a ship, the word coming from Persian nakhuda, from naw (ship) and khuda (master), and carried into Arabic, Urdu, Malay, and Indonesian through Indian Ocean trade. In those traditions the nakhoda commanded the vessel and often owned or part-owned the cargo, so his record of the voyage served as both navigational log and commercial account of goods, ports, and dues. As a record-keeping practice it is the regional and historical equivalent of the master’s logbook: the captain’s running account of the passage. The modern statutory record is governed by SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 28 and the official log book required by flag-state law.