Visionary

Dubai Maritime City and DMCA are the first, and currently the only, organisations in the Middle East to be awarded the PAS 99 Compliance Certificate by DNV, the certification provider.

"It is aimed at organisations with more than one management system in place, and with DMC and DMCA coming together we needed to integrate the two - PAS 99 gave us the framework to do that," he said.

"It's an ongoing process and performance is continually monitored. Also we are an international operation so it makes sense to use an international standard."

High level process

How does such an initiative get off the ground? "Well, DMC and DMCA started the initiative with a Business Process Engineering exercise, where teams from different departments worked according to a set plan to develop business processes.

"These high level business processes were developed by the senior management team and subsequently complemented by the intra- and inter-departmental subject matter experts from various departments. The documentation was then streamlined so ISO and PAS 99 could be integrated and the two organisations certified against the standards," Habti explains.

Straight forward measures

A mega project such as DMC demands standardised working practices orchestrated from the highest level, but sustainability starts with simple but effective measures.

Habti produces his DMC Yearly Energy Consumption Report 2008, and it would appear sustainability really does start at home. "This report is for the energy consumption of the DMC office blocks we work from, of which there are four over 45,000 m². It's my responsibility to measure and report transparently on our energy consumption and implement measures to reduce it where possible."

"But as you can see from this diesel bill, fuel prices were higher in 2008 compared to 2007, equating to a total C0₂ emission for Block A of 1,446 tonnes. That equates to 22.02 gallons of diesel in July 2008 compared to 11.08 in 2007."

Fuel costs are obviously outside Habti's control, but straightforward measures such as installing timers can make a huge difference. "The timers we installed in 2007 to turn off air conditioning units after office hours led to a 23 percent saving in diesel consumption. Block A was also connected to the DEWA grid this January which meant we could decommission the generator."

Furthermore, treated sewage effluent (TSE) is used for the regulated irrigation of the DMC office and causeway landscaped areas. "Usage peaked in October 2007, hitting 3,393,984 gallons when we watered three times a day. But by reducing it to once a day usage fell to 967032 gallons that December."

Planning for the future

Furthermore, DMC is looking to create an educated and experienced marine workforce to sustain the industry through the establishment of Emirates International Maritime Academy, based on Dubai Maritime City Campus.

The study programmes will be conducted according to International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards in both theoretical and practical training, in addition to short-term marine courses, which will cover various maritime topics.

The academy will open its doors at a temporary location in DMC while awaiting the completion of DMCC, and will work in close coordination with the various maritime sectors in the UAE and Gulf region. Enough said.

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