Dubai Maritime City

The sheer scale of DMC is breathtaking. The man-made peninsula between Port Rashid and Dubai Dry Docks measures 2.27 million square metres – the equivalent of over 110 football fields – and will eventually be either the home or workplace of around 130,000 people. The DMC project has so far cost US$1 billion and will provide the base for a multitude of maritime businesses and services, including shipping companies, law firms, ship brokers and insurers. It will also be the proud new home of the Jadaf Dubai dockyard, plus a state-of-the-art academic quarter.

Like a lot of the best projects, DMC had its roots  in more humble beginnings than the development currently under construction.

The initial plan was to relocate Jadaf Dubai, the ship repair and industrial marine yard, onto a small piece of reclaimed land at the mouth of Dubai Creek. Jadaf Dubai was initially reluctant to push ahead with this as it would have needed to finance the relocation itself. The Dubai government was also unwilling to offer funding as it wanted any prospective new project to be self-financing and sustainable. 

It wasn’t until His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the UAE prime minister, vice president and ruler of Dubai, proposed that more reclaimed land be sourced and a commercial area be added that the project then became financially viable. 

John Ewing is DMC’s chief commercial officer and has been with the project since August 2003. Ewing agrees that the numbers did not add up until  the commercial area was added. “It’s definitely a unique configuration,” he says.  “The commercial area was a just solution to help finance the industrial project.”
 
The construction work is going well and DMC is due to open not only ahead of schedule but also on budget. The project has also been lauded for its commitment to environmental sustainability. 

Furthermore, the management team insists that all private developers conform to the silver standard of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system while their own buildings will conform to an even higher standard.

“Hopefully the whole city will be certified – which will be a first [for Dubai],” Ewing says. “On a far broader scale, we want to look at the carbon footprint of the whole industry and the efforts being made by everyone to improve. When you break shipping down it is definitely one of the greenest industries, but there is still a lot to be
done and DMC fully supports any positive progress in this regard.”

When talking about environmental sustainability a question must also be raised about DMC’s infrastructure.  Adding a potential 130,000 commuters in what is already a very busy area of Dubai is going to take an awful lot of planning and co-ordination with the municipal authorities.

Ewing agrees, but is confident that all of the infrastructure issues can be addressed. “In addition to having ferry terminal hubs (we will be part of the ferry system), we have also incorporated plans for a light railway system that will run through DMC and connect to the main Dubai lines,” he says. “We are also conducting an external traffic analysis with Dubai’s Road Transport Authority to ensure an unrestricted free flow of traffic around the area.”

DMC is now in its final phase and although none of the towers are actually built yet there is a definite buzz within the industry. Ewing is optimistic.  “There’s a lot of companies with their headquarters already in Dubai,” he explains. “Especially logistics and container companies, so it could make sense for everyone to be based here [DMC]. We haven’t gone to the market yet with an actual product and are just trying to raise awareness at the present time.  We are in the process of building towers for offices and there are still a lot of infrastructure developments and regulatory issues to overcome, but we are still extremely confident.”

Ewing also sees DMC as the final piece in the jigsaw for Dubai’s booming shipping industry. “If you look at Dubai it’s strong in a number of other key areas,” he says. “It has the largest dry-dock in the region, actually one of the largest in the world. In Jebel Ali it has got the largest port and free zone in the region. It’s our plan to look at the management of the services side and try to create a more concentrated hub for that side of things as well.”

There is no doubt that DMC is one of the most exciting maritime developments in the world and one has to wonder how much the project is going to capture the maritime industry’s imagination when it finally becomes fully operational. What makes it so attractive, however, is not just the location, but the thought of a diverse maritime community working, living and learning together. Hyperbole is almost
de rigueur when discussing a project in this part of the world these days, but DMC is certainly shaping up to be one of the few projects that has the ability to fully justify the hype.

DMC: TIMELINE

May 2003 – Construction begins on Dubai Maritime City (DMC).  The estimated costs of the project is US$177 million.  Fast forward to 2009, where the current spend is around the $1 billion mark.
 
October 2003 – DMC teams up with the Rotterdam Maritime Group (RMG) to create and finalise their business strategy.  DMC’s project manager, Amer Ali, said: “We selected RMG to work with us on the strategy bearing in mind their expertise in all aspects of port and maritime activities, both regionally and internationally.”
 
December 2004 – After successful presentations in France, the UK and New Zealand, DMC showcases facilities and services at the Seatrade Middle East Maritime Conference and Exhibition in Dubai.
 
July 2005 – Work on Dubai Drydocks is completed. Its chief executive, Geoff Taylor, said: “We are confident that the newly completed channel will enhance the development activities of Dubai Maritime City.”  DMC also announces its plans to establish the first ship registry in the Middle East.
 
September 2006 – Reclamation is  now completed and the project moves into the construction phase. Project manager Amer Ali said: “If this pace is sustained, we are confident that completion of the project will be rapid.”

April 2007 – Jadaf Dubai carries out the first successful ship-lift at the DMC. The operation involved hoisting a ship weighing 2500 tons and transporting it safely to the ship repair yard’s new maintenance workshop on the man-made peninsula.  
 
November 2007 – Plans to build a maritime university campus are announced, the final phase of develop- ment is well under way and all of the first and second phase commercial and residential  plots sell out. Amer Ali, now CEO of DMC, said: “We are now seeing DMC take shape as we start the final phase of the project involving the infrastructure development.” 
 
July 2008 – The Emirates International Maritime Academy is established at DMC. Captain Ja’afar Bin Sidin, director of the DMC Campus said: “Establishing a dedicated marine academy will be a significant step towards ensuring the steady supply of highly qualified maritime professionals in the region.”

January 2009 – DMCs announce that 85% of the work is now complete and that the project is ahead of schedule. “With the infrastructure work in the Commercial Precinct currently in the final stages, several real estate developers are starting to mobilise on some plots,” said DMC’s director of property Khaled Meftah.

NUMBER CRUNCH

1500
Estimated number of business

28.6 hectares
Area of parks and green areas

59
Number of warehouses

40,000m²
Area of retail space

42
Number of dry berths
(31 small and 11 large)

82
Amount of workshops

3 km
Length of waterfront promenade

44
Number of towers (30 business and 14 residential)

1500
Number of students expected at DMC campus