Damac Properties has announced it has awarded the main contract for its Marina Bay development at Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. The 190 Dh million contract has been awarded to Al Shafar General Contracting.

Work on the site is expected within a few weeks. The first Phase of construction is scheduled to take 22 months. Marina Bay is a mixed use development which will feature a 25-storey tower of one, two and three bedroom apartments. In addition there will be retail and commercial space with shops and restaurant outlets along the ground and mezzanine levels.

Marina Bay's prime location within the Al Reem master development means that residents will have views across the canals that run through the entire development and also out across the Marina itself. The general manager of the project said, "We're delighted to announce yet another significant contract."

World Marine Guide are looking for more information on this and other marinas in Abu Dhabi to add to our Marina Guide

Source Gulfnews.com

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show (ADYS) 2010 opened to loud praise yesterday in its stunning new home of the UAE capital’s Yas Marina. The show has a line‐up of 30 of the world’s most impressive superyachts and some 140 exhibitors representing international megayacht industry. The show is tipped to be one of the top three superyacht shows along with Monaco and Fort Lauderdale.

There was also an announcement at the show of the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC)  impressive marina projects. The yacht show is being held on Yas Island between February 25-27, 2010. The show is featuring TDIC's four marinas, two of which will be located in its developments across Abu Dhabi city - specifically in the Eastern Mangroves and in Al Bateen Wharf.

Saadiyat Island's marinas, the Marina Village on Saadiyat Beach and Saadiyat Marina were also displayed proving Abu Dhabi's committment to the marine leisure industry and marina tourism.

Saadiyat Marina will have berths for more than1,000yachts and visitors will have access to cafés and chic boutique arcades.

Marina Village located in the Saadiyat Beach District, will open as a 83-berth marina in 2012.

Abu Dhabi is to increase the number of yacht berths and marinas as part of its long term tourism strategy. Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority made the announcement ahead of the second Abu Dhabi Yacht Show set to take place in March.

The plan is to create approximately 45 marinas of various sizes, in the anticipation that in the future there could be as many as 10,000 recreational craft in the emirate. Currently there are about 1,600 berths available in six marinas.

Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan said, "Marine leisure is expected to play an increasingly important role in advancing Abu Dhabi's tourism growth. This is a very natural lifestyle for us as Abu Dhabi is blessed with over 400km of coastline, over 200 islands and a rich marine life".

Some of the biggest projects in Abu Dhabi have marina components and a large development in the pipeline aims to turn Mina Zayed into a super-yacht marina to be known as Marina Zayed.

source www.abudhabiyachtshow.com

The Abu Dhabi Yacht Show (ADYS) will return from the 25th to 27th February 2010 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and Marina (ADNEC). There will be considerably more exhibition space and several changes in format for the second edition, enabling the organisers to showcase many more world-famous brands of superyachts even more effectively to the thousands of high net-worth visitors expected.

The first event in 2009 saw sales of yachts totalling more than 200 million US Dollars which shows the importance of Abu Dhabi as a leading super yacht destination. It is hoped that this year will better the 100 companies that exhibited in 2009 as demand for space is already high. 23 super yachts were at the show last year and again this is expected to be bettered.

For more information info@abudhabiyachtshow.com

or visit www.abudhabiyachtshow.com

Source Super Yacht Times 21st July 2010