 They range from small coracles (the "o thúng") to large ocean-going trading ships like the "ghe mành".The acquisition of the catamaran and outrigger technology by the non-Austronesian peoples in Sri Lanka and southern India is due to the result of very early Austronesian contact with the region, including the Maldives and the Laccadive Islands, estimated to have occurred around 1000 to 600 BCE and onwards.This may have possibly included limited colonization that have since been assimilated.