Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Tartous, SANA-Arwad, a Syrian island on the Mediterranean , has a charming beauty acquired from its location on the seashore in Tartous province,iIt is distinguished by a maritime richness with historical glories, lined by the sails and forearms of its sons, through which they raised its flags high and flapping among the waves.
The Island is famous for its manufacture of marine ships and wooden boats, which is a historical Phoenician industry dating back to more than 2500 BC.
Arwad people excelled in this industry since ancient times, as they inherited it from their Phoenician ancestors, and they did not study it academically, they used different types of wood in it, and most of the tools used in its manufacture are hand-made.
Due to the great experience of the boat makers in Arwad, those boats are manufactured without any engineering plan, but the manufacturer sets the appropriate plan in mind and works to implement it.
The residents of Arwad are always trying to develop that industry through which they achieved great success, as they became able to manufacture the largest ships that are comparable International industries and are characterized by quality, durability and the ability to resist storms .
As sea is very important to the inhabitants of Arwad Island, they excelled in the manufacture of ornamental ships made of seashells, where they collect shells of various shapes, sizes, and colors.
Arwad people also mastered that craft and inherited it through generations, and it is considered a source of income for the inhabitants of the island, as it depends on mulberry wood as a raw material for the structure, and Swedish wood imported from Russia, Romania and Bulgaria for packaging, after which it is polished from the inside and painted with some insulating materials, and one medium-sized boat takes about fifteen days to be manufactured by a workshop of not less than three persons.
Among the most important types of ships, there are the boat, the launch, and the felucca.
Fedaa al-Rhayiah/ Mazen Eyon
