Abu Dhabi: A one-stop marine shop was opened in Abu Dhabi yesterday to register all types of vessels.
Located at the Free Port in Mina Zayed, the shop is designed to help boat owners cut red tape.
Critical National Infrastructure Authority director general Brigadier Faris Khalaf Al Mazroui said the shop would offer a 10-minute solution to issuing licences for all types of vessels including recreational boats, fishing boats and jet skis.
The Dh500,000 Unified Marine Registration Centre offers fast, friendly and professional services of five federal and local departments under one roof, Al Mazroui said.
The Critical National Infrastructure Authority is the agency charged with protecting Abu Dhabi's strategic assets such as oil rigs and power stations.
"It will take an applicant 10 minutes to get his vessels registered and 30 minutes to get the locator detector, known as e-passport, fixed, just in one visit," he said.
"Previously the registration of boats was bureaucratic, time-consuming and required an applicant to go from pillar to post," he said.
An e-passport device was recently made mandatory for all fishing and sail boats licensed in the UAE as well as commercial boats that weigh less than 300 tonnes.
These devices helped in the rescue of personnel by giving the precise location of various types of boats in emergencies.
This way marine patrols can reach the boats more quickly.
He said there were around 5,000 boats registered in Abu Dhabi.
The centre, which operates from 7.30am to 3pm daily, handles around 20 applications every day.
Destination
With some 200 natural islands and sandbanks, and plans for another 45 marinas, experts said they believed there was great potential for Abu Dhabi to become a regional and international boating destination.
Al Mazroui said services for jet ski owners would be added within one month.
"Other centres will be opened in Al Marfa and Delma in Al Gharbia [Western Region]," he said.
Department of Transport maritime policies and strategies acting director general Salem Al Muhairi said regulations would be changed to boost boating as a leisure industry.
"We in the Department [of Transport] are waiting for the mandate to go ahead with new regulations which will boost the marine industry," Al Muhairi said.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai have invested billions of dirhams in developing marinas to attract boat owners from around the UAE and the world.
But boat makers and owners have said bureaucratic procedures governing travel on the country's waters were a deterrent.
