Al Khaleej, 21 July 2026: Abu Dhabi has inaugurated a Waterways Monitoring and Control Centre to unify maritime safety oversight and enhance public marine services, deploying smart systems and predictive analytics across the emirate’s waterways.
The centre was launched by the Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility) in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Maritime of AD Ports Group and supported by the National Guard, during a ceremony attended by Sheikh Hamdan bin Saeed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan and Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Department of Municipalities and Transport.
Covering more than 45,000 square kilometres of waterways, the centre provides real‑time monitoring of navigation channels, public marine transport, and vessel movements. It oversees the installation and maintenance of around 2,000 smart buoys equipped with sensors, including lateral guidance buoys, fixed beacons, signal buoys, and shallow‑water signs.
The centre supports over 40 public marine services, tracks occupancy across more than 1,500 public berths, manages ferries and water taxis, oversees debris removal, and enforces safety regulations at more than 100 marine facilities and 3,600 recreational vessels. Operations rely on AI‑driven predictive analytics, radar stations, surveillance cameras, and wireless communication systems. Patrols operated by Neshan Security Services conduct daily inspections to detect unsafe practices.
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