Jet skis on Dubai beaches must be registered

Dubai: A new two-month campaign set to start on September 1 calls on water sport enthusiasts to register their water crafts and jet skis.

The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), the government authority charged with regulating all aspects of the maritime sector in Dubai, announced the launch of the campaign for licensing unregistered personal water craft, which will run until October 20.

The campaign will encourage owners of personal water craft such as jet skis who do not have documents like bills of purchase that show proof of ownership, to register their craft. The simple registration formalities include filling up the application form, presenting identification documents such as passport or Emirates ID, and bringing the personal water craft to DMCA’s headquarters near Rashid Port in Bur Dubai.

Ali Al Daboos, Executive Director of Operations at DMCA, said that the jet ski registration campaign aims to enhance marine safety and regulate water sports in line with international best practices through development of regulations. He pointed out that the new campaign is a major step towards regulating jet ski usage, which has become a widely popular water sport in Dubai.

“We have earlier introduced measures such as allocating dedicated areas for using jet skis on all beaches in Dubai, setting the maximum speed limit, and creating more awareness about various safety procedures and practices that need to be adopted when using jet skis to cut down the accident rate,” he added.

Another media campaign will also be launched to raise awareness, specifically among jet ski users, about this new initiative.