Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority charged with regulating, coordinating and supervising all aspects of the maritime sector in Dubai, has banned all engineless recreational marine crafts including kayaks, canoes, sailboats and rowing boats in Dubai’s  territorial waters after sunset.

The move is aimed at maintaining a high level of marine safety and ensuring a safe environment for sea-goers, practitioners of water sports, as well as users of recreational marine crafts, said the DMCA in its statement.

It is in line with DMCA’s strategy of adopting the best maritime practices to create a safe and sustainable marine environment that supports government efforts to establish Dubai as a global leading maritime hub.

Aside from restricting the time recreational marine crafts can ply local waters, the DMCA has also ordered seafarers to wear lifejackets to ensure their own safety, it stated.

A work team from DMCA headed by the director of maritime operations, Mohammed Al-Bastaki, has launched an awareness campaign that will target different stakeholders such as marinas, marine clubs and waterfront hotels in Dubai to disseminate the terms of the resolution.

Executive director Amer Ali said: "The latest decision to ban engineless recreational marine crafts after sunset comes in line with DMCA’s strategy to regulate maritime operations and water sports in Dubai according to the best international standards."

"The new policies are issued to reduce human and material risks and ensure the highest levels of safety to ultimately create a vibrant and safe maritime environment," he noted.

"DMCA implements an integrated plan to raise awareness about the best practices that needs to be adopted to prevent accidents, while encouraging water sports enthusiasts to be responsible for their own wellbeing by following simple steps that ensure the highest standards of personal safety," remarked Ali.

The DMCA, said the top official, was committed to raise public awareness about the best practices that can ensure safety while using marine crafts and practicing water sports in Dubai along with the instructions and regulations needed in terms of manoeuvre, passage and landing places and areas of maritime activities.

"We are also keen to develop and adopt proactive measures which will avoid potential accidents in line with our quest to achieve integrated maritime safety, maritime navigation and operational efficiency along the coasts of Dubai," he added.-TradeArabia News Service