After a collision in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

This guide does not replace training, current charts, or weather checks.

Steps

Stop the boats. The Dubai guide then puts one decision ahead of any attempt to separate them. This page does not quote an Abu Dhabi collision procedure. Do not treat the Dubai list as an Abu Dhabi regulation, and do not use the Dubai telephone numbers outside Dubai.

The Dubai list

• The Dubai boating safety guide says that if part of one marine craft has penetrated another, the skippers must decide whether pulling away might make the other sink, and that the decision depends on the circumstances. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to request assistance and inform the official authorities of the details. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to operate the necessary pumps to try to remove water from the marine craft. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to provide passengers with life saving equipment. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to close all watertight hatches. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to determine the defect and the rate of water coming in, so a temporary repair can be estimated. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the operators of the colliding marine craft must exchange assistance. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• If the boats stay afloat, the Dubai guide says every effort must be made to limit the damage and to make sure no further damage occurs. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

The guide tells you to estimate a temporary repair from the damage and the rate of water. It does not describe a patch, a plug, or a product. This page does not add one.

Whether to leave the boat

• The Dubai guide says a decision to abandon the boat depends in part on how long the boat is expected to remain afloat. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says that decision also depends on the weather, both now and expected. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says that decision also depends on the risk of fire or explosion if you do not abandon. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says locating the marine craft is much easier than locating a stray person. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Abu Dhabi

In Abu Dhabi, use the current local notice. This page does not invent a collision drill or a phone number for that emirate.

A practical example

This is a decision story. It names no channel, no waypoint and no depth.

Two small boats in Dubai touch hard enough that one bow is into the other boat. Both skippers leave the engines stopped. They do not reverse apart to "see the damage", because the Dubai guide says pulling away can sink the boat that was holed. They put life-saving equipment on the people aboard, close hatches, call the Dubai numbers, and help each other.

If the same impact is in Abu Dhabi, they still do not reverse apart on a guess. They call the local authority they were already using. They do not read the Dubai numbers across.

Common mistakes

• Backing out of the other boat before anyone has decided whether that opens the hole.
• Leaving the boats to swim for help while both are still afloat.
• Inventing a patch because the guide mentioned a temporary repair.
• Dialling a Dubai emergency number from Abu Dhabi water.
• The Dubai boating safety guide says that if part of one marine craft has penetrated another, the skippers must decide whether pulling away might make the other sink, and that the decision depends on the circumstances. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Checklist

• Engines are stopped and nobody is separating the boats until that decision is made.
• The Dubai guide says to provide passengers with life saving equipment. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to close all watertight hatches. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the operators of the colliding marine craft must exchange assistance. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• In Dubai, the three printed numbers are to hand. In Abu Dhabi, the number is from a current official source.

When to stop or seek help

Call as soon as the boats have hit. Do not wait until you have tried a repair. Leave a boat only when staying aboard is more dangerous than the water, using the three factors the Dubai guide names. If you do enter the water, the guide has already said a boat is easier to find than a person.

The Dubai guide says locating the marine craft is much easier than locating a stray person. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

The Dubai boating safety guide lists 999 for Police Operations in Dubai. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

The same Dubai guide lists 996 for Coast Guard Operations. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

The same Dubai guide lists 04/ 3459999 for the Ports Police Station. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Those three lines are Dubai. Abu Dhabi is not given a number here.

Sources checked for this guide

• https://pcfc.ae/en/DMA/Marine%20Guides/Boating%20Safety%20Guide.pdf — Dubai, checked 2026-10-28.