Daily Times

Iranian captain Hassan Rostam has braved the Strait of Hormuz aboard his lenj for four decades, but now watches with despair as the wooden ships are being replaced by cheaper, faster boats. The sturdy vessels, built by hand, have sailed Gulf waters for centuries, their potbellied silhouette emblematic of regional maritime traditions like the dhows of the Arabian Peninsula. But these days, “there are fewer and fewer” of them, said Rostam, 62, who has spent his life travelling the waterway between Iran and the United Arab Emirates. With a lean body and weathered face, he gazes at the calm seas that are criss-crossed by huge tankers taking Gulf oil to the world’s markets, and naval vessels patrolling the strategic waterway. But the island of Qeshm off Bandar Abbas is also home to the much older tradition of building wooden boats, around 30 of which were resting at low tide in the coastal village of Guran. This small port has long housed several shipyards specialising in their maintenance and repair. But that morning, fewer than two dozen workers were there, barefoot in the mud. A half-built lenj hull propped on beams will not be finished for lack of money, as its owner plans to dismantle it and use the boards for other projects. “Today, a new lenj is very expensive” because “the wood comes from abroad” and construction is done entirely by hand, said Ali Pouzan, who supervises the Guran site.