Noor Ali

Boats of Arakan

Woodwork (WDW)

Transport

The kubeta belongs to family of passenger-carrying vessels known simply as naws, or ‘boats.’ It is a salle, which means a boat that has a motor.

Kubetas can be up to 50 feet in length and their narrow, streamlined shape along with their seven-horsepower engines make them relatively fast. Due to this considerable length, the kubeta is also called a lomba naw, literally ‘long boat.’ They are often chartered for special occasions like weddings and picnics because they can carry more people than smaller boats.

The covered part of the boat is called a chani, which means ‘ceiling.’ Garjan (Dipterocarpus alatus) or Baha (Nilotica) wood is mostly used to make a kubeta. Buthidaung is where these boats are used the most, where they can be seen carrying happy and cheering crowds out for a good time on the water.