Boitas (Odia: ବୋଇତ) were larger boats and ships that were built in the ancient Kalinga region during its maritime history. Kalinga's sea facing regions consisting of coastal Odisha had major trading ports for which boitas were used. Ancient Sadhabas (mariner merchants) sailed from Kalinga to distant lands such of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia including both mainland and insular Southeast Asian regions for trade.

Rules and regulations regarding construction of ships were recorded in the Sanskrit text Yuktikalpataru (ଯୁକ୍ତିକଲ୍ପତରୁ Juktikalpataru) authored by King Bhoja. The Madalapanji (ମାଦଳପାଞ୍ଜି) records that king Bhoja built many ships with local wood. The recovery of many woodworking adzes and other artifacts from Chilika Lake (ଚିଲିକା) shows that Golabai was a boat-building center.

The treatise Yuktikalpataru has sections on ships which deals with classification and characteristics of ship building such as varieties of woods best suited for construction of ships, the classification of vessels for river-going(sāmānya) and sea-going vessels(viśeṣa), their names and respective measurements, types of decorations and painting of ships, various types of ship cabins etc.

For the construction of ships, four kinds of woods were distinguished.

The text also mentions that iron was not used in sea-going vessels, hence referring to dominance of stitched sewn boats, where the hulls were stitched together with a rope rather than nailed across a frame.

The ships are classified into two groups:

The names and measurements of the two classified groups of ships are as follows:

The ships used in river traffic or waterways fall in this class. It is divided into ten groups with different dimensions.