Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) has renewed its inspection campaign aimed at ensuring that floating restaurants operating in Dubai, UAE, conform with the highest standards and international best practices.

DMCA is the government authority charged with regulating Dubai’s maritime sector.

The move complements DMCA’s ongoing efforts to encourage floating restaurants to register all their maritime operations under the framework of the ‘Cruise Logbook’ – a standardised record book that helps owners unify vessel operation documentation, said a statement from the authority.

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, it said.  

DMCA regularly introduces educational campaigns to raise awareness on ways to ensure the safety of operations of floating restaurants in Dubai, it added.

Moreover, 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 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.

DMCA’s senior maritime inspection director Abdullah Bintouq pointed out that floating restaurants were a key segment of the investment landscape of Dubai’s tourism and maritime industry.

He emphasised 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.

On the new campaign, Bintouq said: “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.”

Additionally, he called on all stakeholders to be aware of the need to comply with the ‘Cruise Logbook’ and accurately log all the necessary information, emphasising the desire of the maritime authority to scrutinise record contents through a dedicated team to ensure the credibility of the information.-TradeArabia News Service