The Mnuw - a traditional phinisi getting a modern restoration.

The Mnuw (Sea Hawk) is a phinisi - a traditional Indonesian schooner.

Phinisis are the largest of a number of different types of ships commonly known as prahus*, traditionally built by the Bugis people of Sulawesi and Kalimantan using techniques handed down from generation to generation.

A typical phinisi is two-masted, seven-sailed, built of Iron wood (Ulin) and measuring over 70 feet (20 meters). With its 170 feet (55 meters), the Mnew is large even for a phinisi.

Before its current incarnation, the Mnuw was known as Bunga Berkat Usah, a cargo ship used as a lumber carrier.

For more information on phinisis, please check out the following links:

Buginese traditional schooners

*) The word Prahu has its origin in Proa - a word used throughout the Pacific for the traditional outrigger canoes used by the master navigators of Yap and other parts of Micronesia. The "Flying proa of Micronesia" with their outriggers and Crab-claw sails have seen a revival among sailing entusiasts during the last ten years.