Boat builders still using traditional techniques

KARACHI: “We don’t need to look at any maps or graphs and it never requires modern gadget frames for us to produce a boat without the help of modern equipments”, Elahi Bux Baloch, is working on a boat for the last four months, he was sharing his experience of 70 years of his life as boat builder but now he is only a supervisor.

Pakistan’s largest fish harbor at Karachi, where a ‘Boat Building Yard (BBY)’ exits, who ever goes there will find thousands of boats are stationing around. However in this courtyard, 88 year old Elahi Bux, comes by form Chakiwara Lyari, every morning on foot for making boats.

Elahi Bux Baloch, who started a project of manufacturing a medium size boat, for which was paid 12 millions by an assignee for making a boat , with in a duration of 12 months .

The Elderly tall man still looks active in his job since he went up on the top of boat to fit the ‘the Gola’, the top curved plat of the boat.

It is generational profession of Ilahi Bux Baloch, He started working on boats with his father and grandfather as carpenter, when he was 18 year old. He and his brother and nephews are all well known in this profession.

The prices fluctuate by the requirement of the size and the quality of the wood to be used. He along with his team makes three types of boats in different sizes.

“While building a normal boat (the traditional tall Ships of wood) for fishing purposes, we use a team of 7 members including some ‘Waada’ (carpenters) and making a large size cargo boats required twenty odd men.

The craftsmen built these vessels in different stages, Elahi Bux shared ; they first make the ‘Zerab’ which means (chases) where numbers plats are joined .

They first slap is a large wood for kneel of boat, they call it ‘Zerab’ , then the forefoot and sternpost of boat will be joined to be called ‘Agla Mora’ and ‘Pichla Mora’.

In the foundation woods of boats, Elahi Bux told, they use Pakistan wood of ‘Taali, Kakar and Safeda’, most of the times. They then make the Dhancha, the internal wooden bones of the boats.

After the dhancha is ready he will start attaching the outside wooden wall with the support of nut bolts, and then he will have a mechanic to install a motor engine. After installing the engine, he will work on the internal walls.

“For the walls of the boat, we use ‘the Bilinga’, (an African name of wood), which is imported from Malaysia and South Africa to Pakistan for boat making and other purposes” he told.

The surprising thing was that the elderly Elahi Bux climbed over a 30 foot height boat and showed another boat which was built by him a couple of months ago.

While describing the upper side of boat, “the boat is separated in the three parts in the upper side, he told. The front part is for crew which comprises of kitchen and a rest room, the second part (the Middle) is for the fish whole, space for keeping the fish and freezing material.

The third part is the room of the captain which they called ‘Nakhoh’, from where a ladder goes inside the engine room, at the side of the engine there were eight empty cans for diesel fuel.

There were two pit latrines beside the captain’s rooms, on the left
and right.

He pointed towards the cargo boats and said “these cargo boats we made of 3 floors and they consist very beautiful kitchens and one washroom which is a different thing in it”.

“The price for the boat starts from 1 million and goes up to 120 million”. At times, we used ‘Burma teak wood’, but now we don’t because it is a high price wood “a foot of it costs twelve hundred Rupees, so we now use ‘Keekar’ and ‘Sheesham’ the Pakistani woods in Boat manufacturing” He explained.

He showed me some very old equipments, which have now been replaced with the new drill machines they are using. He told that the shortage of electricity delays their work.

“During the 1965 Pakistan and India war t, he was in Iran where he built his first boat” Recalling old times.

“These boat builders do not work in any kind of manufacturing company, they are not bound of any tag of company brand, they are known by the class of work and quality, this is the only reason that work is being assigned from Dubai and Iran and as well as from the Gawadar locality, he claimed.