| 11 Mar 2008 |
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New Marinas to add 2,000,000 tonnes of concrete to the Gulf water
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Dubai, 11 March 2008 - With recently held conferences and exhibitions on the subject of environmental protection we have heard much about safeguarding the Gulf's marine environment. We have had 1000 of the world's experts at the PIANC-Copedec Conference and the launch of NakheelNakheel
's Blue Communities. However, we have heard very little about one of the major sources of pollution - marinas and the boats which use them.Between 30,000 to 50,000 berths to be built in UAE the next 5 years
Currently there is a shortage of berths for boats in the UAE, to such an extent that we hear of customers for boats refusing to buy unless the company selling the boat can guarantee a place to berth it. This shortage is being addressed by the big developers many of which have large projects on the coast with a marina component: these include, amongst others, the massive marina developments on the Palm Islands in Dubai, the various island developments in Abu Dhabi - Reem Island and Saadiyat Island, the Al Gurm Resort, the Raha Beach development, EmaarEmaar's marina project in Umm Al Qawain, various projects in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and so on. It has been estimated that these projects will add between 30,000 and 50,000 berths during the next 3 to 5 years.
How are marinas built?
This varies in different parts of the world but the preferred method in the Gulf over the last few years has been to float concrete structures in the water and anchor them with massive concrete blocks dumped on the sea bed. Depending on the configuration of the floating dock it weighs generally between 10 and 30 tonnes. The anchoring blocks weigh from 2 to 3 tonnes and each dock generally requires 4 of them. So each berth will require between 18 and 42 tonnes of concrete to be put in the water. That is, from 900,000 to 2,100,000 tonnes of concrete to be added to the marine environment for the 50,000 berths to be built in UAE.
Two decades from now 2,000 000 tons of old concrete will be dumped on the sea bed
Most of the concrete structures that have been immersed in the highly saline Gulf waters for the last 20 years are about ready for replacement, and this will certainly be the case for upscale marinas where looks will be all important to keep the customers coming. What can you do with an old concrete jetty? Take it out to sea and sink it! It is completely impractical and uneconomic to repair old concrete floating docks, so we can anticipate the dumping of up to 2 million tons of old concrete somewhere on the sea bed in a couple of decades time.
Toxic anti-fouling paints
Most boat owners protect the hulls of their boats with a coating which prevents marine growth sticking to the underwater surface of the boat. This is called anti-fouling paint. Most such products contain copper, and the marine growth is prevented by the gradual reaction of the copper with the sea. In other words, it is the very act of polluting the sea which stops the growth on the surface - it is toxic.
In San Diego in the Unites States, where there is a high number of leisure boats, as will be the case soon in the UAE, the authorities have banned the use of copper based antifouling paints. Analysis of the water and the fish and plants living in San Diego Bay has revealed high levels of toxic pollutant metals such as copper.
UAE company Majestic Jetties & Marinas manufactures marines based on its own technology, using wood and fiberglass, the material that boats are made of. Jetties and pontoons manufactured by this technology do not corrode and can be recycled instead of being dumped in the sea one day.
The Majestic pontoons are based on a frame of timbers, individually encased in several layers of fiberglass which give it additional strength and render it completely watertight and impervious to corrosion. Each pontoon is divided into watertight compartments, so that even in the event of an accident the pontoon is unsinkable. The solidity of the entire matrix of the frame makes the pontoon much lighter than the concrete alternative but still heavy enough to sit solidly in the water.
The surface of the pontoons is finished with MoistureShield composite decking, made of 90% recycled material including reclaimed wood fibers and recycled plastics. The decking looks and feels like wood, whilst being considerably cheaper than hardwood which often comes from uncertified sources in South Asia.
To complete the systems, Majestic uses Helix mooring anchors which have a very small footprint on the sea bed and do not disturb the marine environment. Floating components are attached to the anchors by Hazelett elastic rodes which stretch to allow for the rise and fall of the tide but keep the floating jetty in the same position.
"Although it is difficult to source on a regular basis, we try to work with timber from sustainable forests as much as we can", said Philip Lonsdale, spokesman for Majestic Jetties & Marinas.
"Majestic started several years ago with the vision to create an environmentally friendly product, of high quality that is manufactured locally" Lonsdale said. "We decided to look for an alternative to the common marina building technology, based on concrete structures. And as it happens with great ideas, the solution was right in front of our eyes: fiberglass, the material used to make boats."
"We chose to work with the Helix Anchors and the Hazelett rodes because they are made of materials which do not cause pollution and work in synch with the natural marine forces", Lonsdale added.
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About Majestic Jetties & Marinas (www.majesticjetties.com)
Majestic Jetties &Marinas manufactures pontoons, jetties and marinas using its own method, based on 100% corrosion-proof materials. The company operates one manufacturing facility in Al Jaddaf Industrial Zone of Dubai with production capacity of 14,000 sq m of jetties per year and is in process of developing a second factory in the Fujairah Free Zone with capacity of 100,000 sq m of jetties per year. Majestic Jetties &Marinas is also the regional distributor for Helix Helical Marine Embedment Anchors and Hazlett elastic rodes, as well as the UAE stockist and reseller of Moistureshield Composite Wood.
Majestic Jetties &Marinas is a division of Majestic Marine Engineering LLC FFZ.
Majestic Jetties&Marinas sample can be seen on Dubai Boat Show, stand H3-4, Equipment Supplies and Services area.
For media information:
Boryana Korcheva
Lonsdale Communications
T: 04 3619428
F: 04 3619429
M: 050 5395973
boryana@lonsdalecommunications.com
© Press Release 2008
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