The port city of Sur was and still is the centre of shipbuilding in Oman. In the shipbuilding shipyard on the Sur lagoon, you can marvel at how the ship's hulls slowly take shape over a period of weeks in the scorching sun. It takes between three and six months to complete a dhow, depending on the size of the ship. The wood, usually teak imported from India, is painstakingly worked by hand with a hammer, plane or axe. Circular saws or drills are now only used for larger jobs.
The boatbuilding industry in Sur had almost fallen asleep, but now the demand for high-quality, handcrafted boats for use in tourism but also for private leisure activities has risen again thanks to the prosperity in the region.
By the way, dhow is not an Arabic word, but a European collective term. The Omanis distinguish between different types of boat, for example a sambuq or badan. The large ocean-going vessels, called boom, which had a load capacity of up to 500 tonnes, were still in use until the 1970s.
Your contacts for travelling with Arabia Felix:
Maria Popp and Karin Nowack
Phone: +49 (0)89 / 30 77 92 00
info@oman.de
ARABIA FELIX Synform GmbH
Treffauerstraße 18
81373 München
Germany
Tel: +49 89/30779200
E-Mail: info@oman.de
VAT-ID: DE201885274
