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An Emirati dhow maker is maintaining the ancient craft
Inside the shipyard near the book-shaped Mohammed Bin Rashid Library in Al Jaddaf, a small group of people work tirelessly every day to ensure that the Emirati seafaring traditions do not fade into history.
These people are building sloops that have been sailing the Arabian coast for hundreds of years. Small teams bend large planks as if they were made of clay.
Once the worker nailed the planks into place and created the frame, it was time to put the keel and stem in place. Next install the ribs, then install the rudder.
Before long, the boat was ready to set sail.
part of the landscape
Dhows are an integral part of the UAE landscape. Two of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks – the Burj Al Arab and the Dupai Opera – are shaped like traditional sailboats.
The dhow is also decorated with tourist brochures, postcards and 20 dirham notes. But modern ships have removed a wing from their sails, making them a relic of the past.
However, an Emirati man is battling enormous difficulties to keep the dhow sailing.
One of Al Jaddaf’s remaining shipbuilders, Majid Obaid Al Falasi was congratulated by DP World earlier this year for building the world’s largest wooden dhow.
The 92-meter handcrafted boat, named “Obaid”, is almost the length of an American football field and has also been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest boat of its kind.
Al Falasi said the record will not leave Dubai as long as he is alive.
“After me, my son will inherit our heritage and then, God bless, his child,” said the 52-year-old, who was originally an apprentice to his late father, Obaid Jumaa bin Majid Al Falasi.
Graphics by Raja Choudhury
His record-making sloop is named after his father. “I learned everything from my dad. It’s fitting that the ship is named after him,” said Al Falasi, sitting in his nautical-themed office behind a giant teak desk filled with vintage Nautical artifacts.
His arms swept across the room. “We have enough here to build a maritime museum. Maybe one day we will do one.”
Falasi said he has fond memories of working with his father.
“I used to go straight to the shipyard after school and look at boats being built from scratch. In the mid-1970s, my father built what was probably the largest sloop in the world at the time. The largest ship at the time weighed 180 tons. Ours weighed 300 tons. People laughed at my father, saying he would never be able to fill a ship that big, but he proved his naysayers wrong by delivering large quantities of fertilizer and other mixed cargo from Pakistan to Abu Dhabi.”
Alfa Lassi, who took over the role after his father’s death in December 2009, said he was never worried when he made up his mind to build the world’s largest dhow and got to work without any blueprints.
“All we have is raw enthusiasm and a strong belief in our abilities. We source the longest logs from all over the world. For the first time, steel has been added to a dhow to increase its strength.”
As he neared completion, Al Falasi applied for a Guinness World Record only to be told he was ineligible because another Gulf state already had a sloop that was longer and wider than him.
“I protested because the sloop they mentioned was attached to a hotel. It couldn’t sail. But the Guinness authorities refused to budge, saying that a sloop is a sloop.”
Al Falasi said his foreman freaked out when he asked him to stop and start over.
“The change of plan set us back a few months and cost us a lot of money. I was suggested to add an external clamp to increase the length and width of our sloop. But I refused. I said if we had to break the record, Then we have to do it the right way,” he said.
Built from 1,700 tonnes of timber and 8,000 tonnes of steel, the record-breaking vessel was finally launched in 2019 but was not officially commissioned until the following year.
“We delivered 623 used cars and other cargo to Yemen with me as the captain,” Al Falasi said. “It was an exhilarating experience to pilot this enormous vessel.” The honor was finally awarded to Obaid in October 2020.
The Dubai dhow trade has seen a strong revival with the establishment of the Wooden Dhow Maritime Authority by the Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation (PCFC) in 2020, aimed at simplifying and regulating the activities of Dubai’s traditional boats. waters of the emirate. Influenced by these traditional maritime vessels, Bentley’s five limited edition Bentayga models are inspired by dhows.
In the first half of 2022, 6,052 wooden dhows transported 1 million tonnes of merchandise from countries in the MENA region and beyond
Al Falasi said the dhow trade will pick up further in the coming years.
“This is the legacy of our ancestors. We will preserve it every day.”
mazhar@khaleejtimes.com
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