Dubai Maritime City (DMC), the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre, has commenced work on the third and final phase of the project.

The third phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009, will involve infrastructure works that include the expansion of service networks such as fire, telecommunications, water, district cooling, electricity, waste-water pipelines, access roads, supporting civil infrastructure needs and landscaping, says a spokesman for the developer.
“DMC will integrate all essential amenities of a self-sustaining community designed especially for the international maritime industry,” says Amer Ali, DMC CEO. “We are now seeing it take shape as we start the final phase of the project involving the infrastructure development. Upon completion, Dubai will be home to a prestigious, state-of-the-art facility that will cater to all the requirements of the global maritime community.”
The infrastructure development will also include the construction of highways and local road networks and associated infrastructure, such as streetlighting, traffic signals, signs, road-marking and landscape works. The main roads are three-lane dual carriageways, with minor roads being either two-lane dual carriageways or single-lane carriageways. The total length of the roads is approximately 12.83 km.
The structural work includes four electrical substations and six pocket stations, a pumping station for irrigation and fire fighting, a lifting station for sewerage, 35 inspection chambers for district cooling and 67 branch chambers for district cooling. Currently, work is on progress on district cooling, sewerage pipelines and water-facilities.
DMC has also commenced negotiations with the International Association of Maritime Universities (IAMU) to construct an academic centre for maritime science in its Academic Quarter.
On completion, the Maritime Education University will be a fully comprehensive education, training, and research institute for maritime science, and will play a key role in the creation of a pool of professional manpower for the global maritime industry. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed recently by the two parties to inaugurate the joint maritime academy strategy, to discuss mutual collaboration in order to build sustainable capacity in maritime education, and to establish a task force to conduct and complete a feasibility study for the project.
An initial proposal reveals that the university will offer an array of full-time and short courses, covering at least 10 disciplines such as maritime law; maritime engineering management; IT in maritime; logistics; environment management; ship management and operation; ship building management; ocean energy technology; among others. The 27,000 sq m university will also be affiliated with a research and development institute to assist doctorate students with their studies.
On completion, DMC will encompass harbour offices and residences, the maritime centre, an academic quarter, a marina district, and the industrial quarter managed by Jadaf Dubai. It will also showcase the UAE’s first National Maritime Museum, a range of iconic infrastructure, and the Gulf region’s largest ship lift for ship repair and maintenance.