Ministry launches private boat mooring fields project

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) has announced that it has started implementing a project to build mooring facilities for private boats at all harbours in the country.
Work has begun across all the harbours simultaneously and the project is planned for completion within 18 months, the ministry has said in a press statement.
The MoTC has assigned the project to Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar), which will implement it in collaboration with private sector companies.
The goal is to provide some 1,000 moorings in accordance with latest global standards and systems at harbours in Al Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Zakhira and Al Ruwais, through direct co-ordination with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s Fisheries Department, which is concerned with harbour affairs.
The project comes within the MoTC’s strategy related to planning for the marine transport sector and its development.
“The project is a great, right solution providing moorings for private boaters. It follows a considerable rise in the number of private boats registered lately by the ministry,” said Dr Saleh Fetais al-Marri, director of Maritime Transport Planning and Licensing and general supervisor of Maritime Transport Affairs at the MoTC.
He stressed that the project aims to regulate private boat mooring operations within modern anchoring spaces, constructed to global standards and specifications to fulfil private boaters’ needs and expectations. It also aims to keep boats safe from dangerous weather events such as storms and high waves, provide smoother private boat movement and preserving people’s belongings. Besides, it will support the private sector in a way that helps boost Qatar’s economic development, he added.
Dr al-Marri said the project’s most important feature is the optimised use of the potential of Qatar’s harbours and establishments, aiming to reduce cost, observe environmental and sustainability standards and codes, and apply the world’s best practices in terms of project design and execution.
He said there are 436 mooring slips at the Al Wakrah harbour, 324 at Al Ruwais, 200 at Al Khor and 28 at Al Zakhira. Planning for these mooring slips has taken into consideration all boat sizes, which means each mooring slip can accommodate more than one boat and part of the project is to increase the number of moorings in the future, the statement notes.
The MME’s Marine Fishing Harbors Section head, Hamad Murshid al-Muraikhi, said the project would contribute to serving many private boat owners and reduce the burden on fishing harbours.
Upon project completion, the current fishing harbours will be cleared of private boats, mooring fields reorganised and redistributed, and new services will be provided, helping fulfil the fishermen’s desire that fishing harbours should be exclusive to only ships and boats that have a licence from
the MME’s Fisheries Department.
Environment standards and codes have been observed for the project, aiming to preserve the environment and marine resources, al-Muraikhi said. He also stressed that the allocation of mooring fields for private boaters will not take place at the same harbours where fishermen’s ships and boats operate, but adjacent to them.
Nabil Alkhaldi, engineering director at Mwani Qatar, said the mooring fields project is a major public-private partnership in Qatar. He noted that the private sector plays a key role in its implementation based on the considerable attention the country pays to enhancing and bolstering the private sector’s role and contribution to development projects countrywide.
The project implementation plan has been endorsed by the bodies concerned and the plan is to complete and deliver the project in roughly a year and a half, he added.
The Al Zakhira harbour’s mooring fields are to be completed and delivered in 10 months, Al Khor harbour’s in 14 months and Al Wakrah and Al Ruwais harbours’ in 18 months, the official informed.
Project works include constructing mooring slips at a length of 22m for boats and 10m for cruisers, as well as groynes for which “we use sustainable, eco-friendly materials”, he noted.  
Implementing an eco-friendly project has been the focus of attention of all stakeholders and parties involved in the project, involving the use of eco-friendly materials and techniques that help preserve the environment and living marine resources, Alkhaldi added.


A Quick Look
* 1,000 moorings to be provided across 4 harbours – Wakrah, Al Khor, Al Zakhira and Al Ruwais
* Al Zakhira harbour’s mooring fields are to be completed and delivered in 10 months, Al Khor harbour’s in 14 months and Al Wakrah and Al Ruwais harbours’ in 18 months
* Project works include constructing mooring slips at a length of 22m for boats and 10m for cruisers
* Upon project completion, the current fishing harbours will be cleared of private boats and, mooring fields reorganised and redistributed