A new study published in Maritime Engineering, “Design vessel particulars for UAE marina infrastructure”, by Maurice Kerr and Eldré Thesnaar analyses 6,229 vessels across 40 UAE marinas to assess local vessel characteristics, consider how they can support more efficient layouts and address the limited availability of region-specific data for marina design.

Kerr, a chartered civil engineer with more than 15 years of international experience, has worked across waterfront, coastal and port projects, including marina developments in the Middle East and port structure inspections and refurbishments, with a focus on value, cost efficiency, sustainability and quality. Thesnaar is a port and coastal engineer whose more than 12 years of international experience spans industrial and commercial port development, including cruise, container and bulk terminals, marinas and waterfront projects, with his work focused on sustainable and cost-effective marine solutions.

According to the researchers, marina berth sizes in the UAE have faced inefficiencies because developers have had limited access to local references for vessel dimensions. At the same time, international references may not accurately reflect the characteristics of the UAE fleet, while vessel characteristics are also expected to change over time.

For the study, satellite imagery was used to measure 6,229 vessels across 40 UAE marinas, with the desktop measurements checked against physical vessel measurements, benchmark data and fixed reference points. The marinas covered both wet and dry berths and were grouped into three categories: community, private/luxury and fishing, while the vessels were classified into six types: motorboats, sailing vessels, superyachts, dhows, houseboats and other vessels.

The study established relationships between vessel beam and length overall (LOA), alongside LOA distributions across the three principal marina categories. It also examined average and 95th-percentile beam values at one-metre LOA bins, providing a picture of the vessel sizes and mix accommodated across different UAE marinas.

The analysis showed that UAE monohull motorboats generally had narrower beams than those specified in commonly used international marina design references, particularly among vessels under 15 metres LOA, which make up much of the UAE marina fleet. The researchers said beam is an important factor in determining berth width and the overall geometry of a marina, and that using vessel dimensions that better reflect the regional fleet can help designers assess pontoon lengths, water areas and berth arrangements while maintaining appropriate operational clearances.

Using the regional vessel dimensions could also reduce the amount of walkway pontoon required in a marina layout. To assess this potential benefit, the researchers applied the data to a representative 100-berth marina, estimating area reductions of up to 30 percent compared with Australian Standard AS 3962 and 43 percent compared with PIANC-based assumptions. The comparison also put the potential savings at up to $340,000 USD in capital costs against AS 3962 and $510,000 against PIANC for every 100 berths, with embodied-carbon savings of up to 45 tonnes CO₂e and 68 tonnes CO₂e respectively.

Overall, the findings point to the value of using local vessel data in marina planning. The paper recommends using market research to guide layouts based on the vessel size and mix of each marina category, with some flexibility for changes in vessel characteristics over time.

Images from Maurice Kerr.