World's largest dhow sets sail off Dubai shores

A mighty dhow has sailed off Dubai shores straight into the record books. The Guinness World Records has confirmed Obaid as the largest wooden Arabic dhow in the world.

The dhow has been named after Obaid Jumaa bin Majid Al Falasi, an Emirati shipbuilder who began an apprenticeship at the age of nine in the mid-1940s.

The vessel is 91.47 metres long and 20.41 metres wide. In simpler words, its length is equal to an American football field, while its width is about half its size.

It stands at a height of 11.229 metres and weighs 2,500 tonnes. Balancing the structure on either its bow or stern vertically would make it almost as tall as the Big Ben in London.

According to Guiness World Records, work on the dhow started years ago, “with no actual engineering vision or blueprints”.

Majid Obaid Al Falasi said he built the vessel in memory of his late father.

“Our forefathers were divers, our ancestors worked in the sea, and my own father perused this craftsmanship for almost all his life. This is a gratitude to my father, and my country, which always aims for the (top) positions,” said Majid Obaid. “We tried to get the longest pieces of log available. We are born dhow builders, and can build dhows using other materials, but wood keeps its identity.”

It will have an estimated load capacity of up to 6,000 tonnes.

The dhow is powered by two 1,850 horsepower engines and will be used to transport cargo from the UAE to Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan and India.”

• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi