Shu'ai

A Shu’ai, Shu’i or Shuw'i (Arabic: شوعي‎) is a small or medium-sized dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.[1] This type of dhow is built low with a high quarter deck and has one or two masts with lateen sails.[2] A general purpose coastal boat, the shu’ai is one of the smaller-size dhow of Persian Gulf.[3]

Fishermen's Shu’ai moored at Doha

Shu’ai at dhow parade during Qatar National Day.

Shu’ai in the Persian Gulf

Formerly Shu’ai was the most common dhow in the Persian Gulf used for fishing as well as for coastal trade. Some Shu'ai have been converted into motorboats after being fitted with engines instead of sails, especially in the Persian Gulf area.[4]

See also

• Dhow
• Baghlah
• Batil (ship)
• Beden
• Boom (ship)
• Ghanjah
• Sambuk

References

1. Hawkins, Clifford W. (1977)
2. Agius, Dionisius (2008)
3. "The Traditional Dhow". web.archive.org. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
4. Dhow Shu’ai

Bibliography

• Agius, Dionisius A (2008), Classic Ships of Islam: From Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean, Brill, ISBN 978-90-0415863-4.
• Hawkins, Clifford W. (1977). The Dhow: An Illustrated History Of The Dhow And Its World. Nautical Publishing Co. Ltd, ISBN 978-0245526558
• Hourani, George F. (1995). Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691000329

Further reading

• Tibbetts, G.R. (2002) Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean before the Coming of the Portuguese: being a translation of Kitāb al-Fawā'id fī uṣūl al-baḥr wa-'l-qawā'id by Aḥmad Ibn Mādjid al-Nadjdī. London: Routledge. Amazon ISBN 9780947593230

External links

• A survey of Traditional Vessels of the Sultanate of Oman. The Omani Dhow Recording Project Field Reserch, 1992