DMCA continues awareness campaign to promote operational safety in floating restaurants

Initiative part of Authority’s efforts to enhance maritime tourism in Dubai

 In line with its efforts to promote the highest levels of maritime safety and environmental responsibility, the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) is continuing its inspection campaign aimed at ensuring that floating restaurants operating in Dubai conform with the highest standards and international best practices. The move complements ongoing efforts to encourage floating restaurants to register all their maritime operations under the framework of the ‘Cruise Logbook,’ a standardized record book that helps owners unify vessel operation documentation. This measure enhances the management and technical competencies of maritime operators while offering advanced and high-quality services that increase maritime safety and security standards.

Abdullah Bintouq, Senior Maritime Inspection Director, DMCA, pointed out that floating restaurants are a key segment of the investment landscape of Dubai’s tourism and maritime industry. Bintouq emphasized the absolute obligation to provide the necessary means for ensuring the highest levels of safety and operational efficiency of floating restaurants considering how the marine tourism sector is currently witnessing steady growth with the increasing influx of visitors and tourists to Dubai. He noted that recent actions related to the organization of work related to floating restaurants will contribute significantly to the enhanced investment appeal of the segment which offers many promising opportunities.

Abdullah Bintouq added: “We have established a clear framework for ensuring safe and secure maritime operations in the emirate of Dubai through our continuous campaign which monitors the adherence of floating restaurants to the stringent standards of the Maritime Sector Strategy (MSS) aimed at creating a vibrant and secure maritime industry.”

Bintouq called on all stakeholders to be aware of the need to comply with the ‘Cruise Logbook’ and accurately log all the necessary information, emphasizing the desire of the maritime authority to scrutinize record contents through a dedicated team to ensure the credibility of the information which he explained provides a frame of reference for enforcing the highest levels of safety, quality and excellence in regulatory, administrative, technical and operational processes.

 DMCA regularly introduces educational campaigns to raise awareness on ways to ensure the safety of operations of floating restaurants in Dubai. These campaigns will disseminate training procedures for emergency situations and the evacuation of vessels, emergency response and enhanced crew and vessel readiness, the proper use of life jackets and rafts and emergency exits, and defining of escape routes for emergency evacuations. They will also focus on effective internal and external communications and policies to prevent and combat fires as well as procedures for addressing marine pollution caused by oil derivatives and other related maritime safety issues.