The Al-Hashemi-II is the world's largest wooden boat, an 83-metre traditional Kuwaiti dhow moored on the south shore of Kuwait Bay within reach of Salmiya. The boat was built in 1997 to demonstrate traditional Kuwaiti maritime craftsmanship and now serves as a museum covering Kuwait's seafaring history, the pearl diving industry that dominated the economy before oil, and traditional boat-building techniques.
The vessel itself is the attraction. The scale is extraordinary for a wooden boat, and the construction — entirely by hand, using traditional tools and materials — is genuinely impressive. The museum inside covers the complete arc of Kuwait's maritime past, from the ancient reed boats of Failaka Island to the dhow trade routes that connected the Gulf to East Africa and India.