This vessel distinguishes by its slender architectural forms. With its steep boards it was a very clumsy ship and had two masts and a Latin sail rigging. A very cumbersome sterncastle was richly decorated by carving. The vessel had a hatch on the deck and a cut opening in the board for cargo operations with goods directly to and from the tweendeck - a space between two decks. The steering unit was very conservative (only two steering oars) and differed of little from merchant vessels of ancient Rome. The hinged rudder appeared on boards of the Mediterranean ships far later than that on ships of northern peoples. The length of such vessels, sometimes they were called naves or gats, reached 30 m, the width - 8 m, the mast height - 25 m. It is interesting that just the same type of a ship W. Shakespeare described in his 'Venetian Merchant'. Crusaders often chartered these ships to transport troops and ammunition.