Noor Ali

Boats of Arakan

Woodwork (WDW)

Transport

The word ‘fashindari’ comes from a Rohingya adaptation of the English word ‘passenger.’ Large mass-transit boats like these were routinely used to traverse Arakan before roads and motorised vehicles became the more popular mode of transport. Fashindari naws are still used as a fast and effective way to travel long distances along waterways.

The body of the boat is made out of Garjan (Dipterocarpus alatus) or Baha (Nilotica) wood and powered by a motorised engine, leading to it sometimes also being called a motor boat or a Salle. This boat is usually seen in the northern part of Buthidaung and is between 25-35 feet long with a capacity of two metric tons.

A license from the government is needed to operate this vessel and there are annual taxes to pay. It takes about forty days and three skilled carpenters to make a fashindari naw.