Dhow  is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region  Historians are divided as to whether the dhow was invented by Arabs or Indians. Typically sporting long thin hulls  dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items  like fruit  fresh water or merchandise  along the coasts of Eastern Arabia (Arab states of the Persian Gulf)  East Africa  Yemen and coastal South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh)  Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty  smaller ones typically around twelve