Dubai Maritime City begins earth works for Middle East's first-of-its-kind yacht repair facility

Published November 23rd, 2008 - 07:02 GMT

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Dubai Maritime City, the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre and part of the Dubai World Group of companies, has announced that it has started earth works for the construction of the Middle East's first-of-its-kind yacht repair facility designed by renowned maritime engineering and consultancy firm Royal Haskoning. The new yacht repair facility has been conceptualised in line with Dubai Maritime City's strategy to expand its portfolio of groundbreaking maritime services, providing optimum value for all investors and clients within the integrated maritime complex.

Underscoring the significance of the project, the yacht repair facility will be built on an 82,000 square metre plot, the largest within Dubai Maritime City’s Industrial Precinct. The project is expected to be completed and fully operational within 16 months, providing regional clients an unrivalled portfolio of yacht repair services in terms of size, facilities and operational capacity.

"With the tremendous pace of maritime development across the UAE and all over the region, the number of yachts is expected to increase exponentially within the next few years. In Dubai alone, the unprecedented number of marina projects all over the emirate is expected to bring in between 30,000 to 50,000 new boats and yachts in the next five years. This naturally creates a surge in demand for dedicated services and facilities that can accommodate such a huge number of boats. Dubai Maritime City's state-of-the-art yacht repair facility will certainly be an important component that will support this growth and strengthen the reputation of Dubai as a global boating haven," said Amer Ali, CEO, Dubai Maritime City.

"Furthermore, Royal Haskoning has been an internationally acclaimed organisation with over 100 years of maritime experience. With Royal Haskoning's expertise, we are confident that the new facility will comply with all the quality standards and environmental requirements that Dubai Maritime City has set for all its projects," added Ali.

On his part, Hamed Bin Lahej, COO of Drydocks World, which will operate the City’s Industrial Precinct, praised the new facility by saying: "This will be another unique addition to the Industrial Precinct. With the large number of boats and yachts entering Dubai’s waters, there will be an obvious need for a leading repair and maintenance facility. Such a centre will help to further position Dubai as the leading hub for anything maritime within the region.”

Earlier this year, Dubai Maritime City signed a contract with Drydocks World – Dubai whereby the latter will manage all components of Dubai Maritime City’s Industrial Precinct, including wet berths, dry berths, workshops, warehouses, the 3,000-tonne and 6,000-tonne ship lifts, the ship lift control building, central administration building and covered yacht repair area, among others.

In line with Dubai Maritime City's policy to ensure environmental compliance for all projects, the yacht repair facility will be LEED-certified. The project will include 11 large sized and 12 small sized workshops, and will be able to handle all types of yachts, including wooden, steel, GRP, aluminium and others, with a maximum capacity of 400 tonnes.

Upon completion, the yacht repair centre, which overlooks the water basin of Jadaf Dubai, will feature four air-conditioned repair sheds, six open berth facilities and a paint booth for yachts. It has also been equipped with efficient district cooling, power saving systems, ample parking areas, prayer areas and other value-added features.

Dubai Maritime City is an integrated maritime facility that caters to all requirements of the global maritime industry, including the region's fast-growing boating community. On completion, the maritime complex will feature six expertly master planned precincts: Harbour Offices, Harbour Residences, Maritime Centre, Marina District, Industrial Quarter and Dubai Maritime City Campus, each designed to provide world-class infrastructure facilities to different maritime industry players. Dubai Maritime City also offers investors and business organisations highly attractive economic incentives such as free-zone benefits, responsive government support, a tax-free business environment and an effective port structure.