Ship (Dhow) building

Sub Section: Ship(Dhow)building Bee keeping Horse Breeding Camel Breedding Incense & Fragrant Halwa

     Oman's connection with the sea stretches back many centuries when Omani sailors using mast and sail, pioneered sea routes to the cities of the ancient world. Favourable factors were Oman's position at the crossroads of shipping routes which linked the Arabian Gulf to India, the Red Sea and East Africa and her knowledge of shipbuilding.

     Oman became the first non-European country to extend its influence to Africa where it remained for hundreds of years, due mainly to her ships/dhows. Oman was an important maritime and political power who established relations with China, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States of America. Throughout its long history, Oman's navy has played a key role in the country's economic success, both in providing the instrument for internal and external trade and in underpinning fishing and pearling activities. The Omani warship "The Sultana" which anchored in New York harbour in 1840, bearing gifts from Sultan Said bin Sultan to the American President, was a symbol of the greatness of the Omani fleet at that time.

     In Oman two techniques are used in shipbuilding. In the first, timbers are laid
side-by-side and pierced at intervals with a fine hand drill. The timbers are then bound
together through these holes by means of rope made of coconut fibre and the holes covered with a mixture of fibre or raw cotton soaked in fish, coconut or sesame oil. Arab geographers such as Al Idrissi and Ibn Jubair believed that boats bound with fibres and with flat hulls were safer than those
fitted together with rigid iron nails because if they ran onto rocks or came into contact
with another hull, they were more flexible. In the second method, nails are used and in
essence this is the same technique as used in other countries of the Arabian Gulf and
Red Sea.

     The main type of wood used for the hull and keel is teak which is imported from India. The ribs are made from locally available woods such as qart, sidr and sarar. The tools used in a ship's construction are simple and basic such as the hammer, saw, awl, bow drill, chisel, plane and calking iron. The principal shipbuilding yards in Oman were Sur, Mutrah and Shinas.

     Omani ships, which can last for 60-100 years, are distinguished by their variety of types although some are no longer made. The largest type was the ocean-going cargo vessel, the baghlah with a length of 135 feet and a load capacity of 150-400 tonnes which could be distinguished by its high poop deck and quarter galleries, its transom stern being pierced by five window apertures and often elaborately carved. The ghanjail was very similar to the baghlah, and is considered by many Omanis to be the most beautiful of the large dhows.

     The sambuuq used to be one of the most commonly seen Arab vessels: its distinguishing features are the low, curved, scimitar-shaped stem piece and high square stern which lacks a quarter gallery.

     The word sambuaq used to denote the sewn boats of the Dhofari coast, and may therefore be a term of great antiquity.

     The government is keen to encourage the maritime tourist industry, in restoring old ships, increasing the use of large vessels/dhows for sea fishing, and also the building of small models of Omani ships for decorative purposes and for i participating in exhibitions.

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Traditional crafts:- Ship(Dhow)building Bee keeping Horse Breeding Camel Breedding Incense & Fragrant Halwa

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