Syria's last traditional boat-makers — in pictures

Artisans work on a Phoenician craft, the design of which dates back thousands of years

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  Khaled Bahlawan, 39, works on a vessel at his boatyard on Syria's Mediterranean island of Arwad. All photos by AFP

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  The Bahlawans are the only manufacturers of traditional wooden boats on the Syrian coast, a Phoenician craft dating back thousands of years.

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  Syrian craftsman Khaled Bahlawan builds a wooden boat at his boatyard in Syria's Mediterranean Island of Arwad on July 24, 2022. - The Bahlawans are the only manufacturers of traditional wooden boats on the Syrian coast, a Phoenician craft dating back thousands of years, now threatened by low demand in the age of technology. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

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  Demand for boat-making services has dropped to all but a trickle in recent years.

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  The eight members of the Bahlawan family now share the work, making boats for fishermen, resorts and passenger transport operators.

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  Traditional boat-making could disappear altogether as young people emigrate or search for easier, more profitable work.

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  Long power cuts due to years of conflict mean that Khaled Bahlawan cannot use his electrical equipment.

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  A worker paints a vessel at the family's boatyard.

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  Khaled works with his grandfather's manual tools, smoothing the wood by hand rather than with an electric plane.

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  Farouk Bahlawan, Khaled's uncle, said his family had preserved the original shape and structure of ancient Phoenician boats, with a few modifications.

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  Khaled says 'we are the last family that makes wooden ships and boats in Syria'.

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  The tradition of building and repairing wooden boats has been in the Bahlawan family for hundreds of years.

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  Farouk Bahlawan says the family used to make four big ships and several boats every year, which would be exported to Cyprus, Turkey and Lebanon.

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  This year, the family has worked on only one ship.

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  Hundreds of workers, residents and visitors commute to and from Arwad island every day in wooden boats, mostly built by the Bahlawan family.

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