Reef balls’ laid down off Fujairah

Dubai : An ambitious scheme to create an artificial reef has been launched to transform a tranquil sea coast into a haven for marine life.

The Le Meridian Al Aqah hotel in Fujairah has become the first area off the east coast of the UAE to begin work on an environmental project of this kind.

It involves dropping 14 man-made "reef balls" that weigh 2.5 tonnes each half a kilometre out into the sea from the hotel's beach.

It is the brainchild of the hotel's general manager Patrick Antaki, who hopes it will help create a sustainable habitat for all kinds of sea life.

He said: "We should see the fish attracted to the new reef within weeks and eventually over a five-year period it should become established with things like turtles, prawns, lobsters and maybe even a shark."

The project had been more than six months in the pipeline and over the course of the summer around 40 of the one-metre-and-a-half high structures will be settled onto the seabed.

Antaki said: "I had originally wanted to sink an aeroplane, boat or car but it has been very difficult to source the right object because you have to make sure it is environmentally safe and suitable to the area.

"So we went back to basics and went for a proven system in reef balls, which are specifically designed for this purpose and have been used around the world effectively."
He admitted in the past people speaking up for environmental issues had not always been heard but that was now changing.

He said: "Once life comes to these structures it will be a fantastic place to dive because this kind of wildlife is unique and people want to see it."

Antaki said he had not given up hope of sinking a larger structure in future.

He added: "I would like to sink an aeroplane or something bigger and more interesting but it would only be done if it's safe."
The reef ball moulds were designed and manufactured in the United States and imported.

They cost around Dh20,000 each to build, and ship over to the UAE.

Also part of the reef will be a metre-and-a-half high spiral structure made out of recycled plastic.
Simon Tambling, is a managing partner of Al Boom Diving, which is installing the balls, said the reef ball moulds are first set up on the beach.

He said: "Concrete is then poured into the shells and that takes between two and three days to set. We then drag out the moulds so that they are submerged in about a metre of water.

"When the tide comes in, we then attach lift bags around them and this allows our divers to check them and for the boats to take them out into the sea.
"We then lower the moulds into place."

The project is also being supported by Fujairah Municipality, which provided six of the structures.

The plastic structure is from Eco, a plastic recycling company in Jebel Ali, FNCT and SIJI Cement have sponsored 11 of the reef balls.

The UAE is one of 59 countries that are implementing this initiative.