Dubai Maritime City to house the first ship registry office in the Middle East

The registry office will work in conjunction with the government in establishing the standards that ships will be required to maintain, which will coincide with international standards. The registry office will operate on an international level by accepting national and foreign ownership of vessels.

"This marks a major step for the maritime community in the Middle East as it sets new benchmarks of excellence for the industry," said Amer Ali, Project Manager of Dubai Maritime City. "The primary function of the registry will be to maintain the specific requirements of the government related to the ship owning company or the ship itself.

As the first purpose built maritime cluster, we are pleased to be involved in the setting of groundbreaking new industry standards to benefit maritime businesses in the region. We aim to ensure that the highest possible standards are maintained to make it attractive for ship owners and liner operators to register with us," he added.

The ship registrar keeps a record of all vessels registered under its flag with details of the owners and shareholders of the owning company, the ship's particulars, classification details, all statutory and international trading certificates, record of ISM and ISPS compliance and any registered mortgages on the ship.

An active ship register with a good support system will attract ship-owners to register their vessels under that particular flag. This will in turn attract ship managers, brokers, banks and ship-brokers and ship finance institutions and other maritime related players to the region, thus helping in the growth of the maritime industry locally.

Dubai already offers numerous advantages for those setting up their businesses here. Ship owners will be able to take advantage of these benefits, which will definitely give them an edge over ships registered in other flag states.