DMCA monitors regulation of maritime operations to ensure compliance with highest maritime safety standards

Authority establishing strong foundation for secure, integrated and sustainable maritime sector

The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) has announced that it is continuously monitoring regulatory compliance across different maritime operations as part of its extensive efforts to improve all aspects such as maritime safety, secure navigation and operational efficiency along Dubai’s coastline. It aims to best serve the objectives of the ‘Dubai Maritime Sector Strategy’ in establishing a secure, sustainable and integrated maritime sector.

The DMCA is supervising improvements to regulatory and operational procedures involving anchoring places around Dubai which have been experiencing high demand from commercial, touristic, sports, and leisure marine crafts. It ensures strict adherence to a resolution that requires berthing marine crafts to meet the highest levels of maritime safety within the anchorage area and observe local and federal legislations as well as international conventions issued by the International Maritime Organization and International Labor Organization.

Amer Ali, Executive Director of the DMCA, stated that the ongoing monitoring of maritime operations within Dubai’s territorial waters aims to maintain the continuous upgrading of maritime safety, which is a major component in promoting competitiveness within the industry. He also noted that constant cooperation and coordination with all stakeholders in Dubai play an important role in the evolution and integration of the safety measures being undertaken to guarantee efficient operations of all marine crafts in Dubai’s waters.

Ali said: “The DMCA is always committed to improve maritime safety within Dubai’s territorial waters consistent with our ambition of taking the domestic maritime cluster to a new level of growth, competitiveness and excellence. This commitment is aligned with the goals embodied in the Maritime Sector Strategy which aims to develop a secure, sustainable, inclusive, modern, and proficient maritime sector supportive of the economic diversification process. These efforts aim to lead us towards a post-oil economy that will empower the next generation and enjoy a more secure and prosperous future.”

The DMCA is working alongside other stakeholders which include free zones, private development zones, owners, as well as operators of maritime projects in Dubai’s territorial waters, providing them with the necessary aids to navigation. The aim is to establish an implementing mechanism that abides by Executive Council Resolution no. 63 of 2016 issued by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, to ensure efficient regulation of activities including provisioning, installing, as well as servicing the navigational aids of maritime projects in the emirate. The DMCA takes part in developing the requirements and criteria relating to business practices, issuance of licenses and approvals, in addition to acting as the governing authority that monitors and inspects marine facilities and projects in Dubai.

In addition, the DMCA is developing key measures such as auditing, inspecting and monitoring procedures for floating restaurants to ensure that they meet the highest standards and best international practices, in line with efforts to improve maritime safety levels within Dubai’s territorial waters. The move aims to encourage floating restaurants to register all their maritime operations under the framework of the ‘Cruise Logbook,’ which provides regulatory, administrative and technical guidelines on marine craft operation to help operators improve their quality of services and maritime safety standards.

Captain Khamis Weld Ghumail, Director of Maritime Traffic Management, Dubai Maritime City Aurhority, concluded: “We always make it a strategic priority to regulate the operations and activities of local anchorage and marine crafts to ensure the Dubai maritime sector’s compliance with local and international requirements and legislations. We steadfastly check both anchoring and passing marine crafts through regular patrolling to make sure they follow the highest maritime safety standards. Furthermore, we are also committed to provide all kinds of technical and logistic support to owners and operators of marine crafts in keeping with our endeavors to build a strong foundation that would create a secure and modernized marine environment, with the end goal of fostering Dubai’s leadership as one of the most important and leading maritime destinations in the world.”