Distress signals for a small boat in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

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

Steps

Use a signal the Dubai guide actually lists. Follow the instructions printed on the flare you have. This page does not add a firing sequence, because the guide says to follow the maker and the drawing in the guide is for one pattern of flare.

Signals that need no pyrotechnic

• The Dubai boating safety guide lists raising and lowering the arms, slowly and repeatedly, as a distress signal. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide lists an orange cloth painted with a black square and a ball. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide lists using a mirror to reflect sunlight. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide lists a fog horn used in clear weather, continuous or intermittent, as a distress signal. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide lists making SOS with a torch. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the marine radio is the single most effective way to ask for help when the boat is in danger. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Flares and smoke, as the Dubai guide describes them

• The Dubai guide says to use hand flares, parachute rockets and floating smoke signals according to the maker's instructions. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says orange smoke signals can be seen from 4 kilometres, or 10 kilometres from an aeroplane, and should be used in daylight so your position can be seen. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a hand flare is designed for a range of 10 kilometres, is intended for night, and can also be seen in daylight. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says a parachute distress shell launches a red star to about 300 metres, and that the star burns on the way down for at least 40 seconds. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says to hold that parachute signal until an aircraft is on the horizon, or until you are sure you are in sight of the shore or another boat. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says distress signals are stored dry, easy to reach, and away from fuel and other flammable materials. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the crew know where the signals are kept and how to use them. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

A radio when you are far from shore

• The Dubai guide says a marine craft sailing two miles (3.2 kilometres) or more from shore should have a maritime radio. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Who the Dubai guide says to call

These numbers are printed for Dubai. This page has no Abu Dhabi emergency number. Do not dial a Dubai number from Abu Dhabi water and assume it is the local service.

• 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 Ports Police Station. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi document checked with this page is the safety map. It states where general speed rules apply. It does not state a distress-signal code or a phone number.

• Abu Dhabi Maritime prints general speed rules for where the speed is not otherwise restricted. A marked zone on the current safety map overrides the general rule. (source, Abu Dhabi, checked 2026-10-28)

A practical example

This is a decision story. It names no position and no distance you should copy.

A boat in Dubai has a problem the crew cannot fix, and another boat is in sight. They use the radio, and they raise and lower their arms. They do not fire the parachute flare while nobody is in sight, because the Dubai guide says to wait until an aircraft is on the horizon or they are sure they can be seen from the shore or from another boat. The orange smoke stays for daylight. The hand flare is the night signal the guide describes.

The phones they would use are the Dubai numbers above. In Abu Dhabi they do not invent a number from memory, because none was printed on the map checked for this page.

Common mistakes

• Firing every flare at once, including the parachute shell, with no aircraft and no other boat in sight.
• Storing flares next to the fuel.
• Being the only person aboard who knows which locker they are in.
• Copying a Dubai phone number onto an Abu Dhabi trip card.
• Following a button sequence from a different flare than the one in your hand.
• The Dubai guide says to use hand flares, parachute rockets and floating smoke signals according to the maker's instructions. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)

Checklist

• The Dubai guide says distress signals are stored dry, easy to reach, and away from fuel and other flammable materials. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the crew know where the signals are kept and how to use them. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• The Dubai guide says the marine radio is the single most effective way to ask for help when the boat is in danger. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• If the trip is two miles or more from shore, a maritime radio is aboard, as the Dubai guide says.
• The Dubai guide says a marine craft sailing two miles (3.2 kilometres) or more from shore should have a maritime radio. (source, Dubai, checked 2026-10-28)
• In Dubai, the three printed numbers are written down. In Abu Dhabi, you have the local number from a current official source, not from this page.

When to stop or seek help

Call as soon as the boat or a person is in danger. Do not wait until you have tried every flare. If you are unsure how a particular flare fires, use the radio, the arms, the torch or the horn, and read the maker's card before you fire anything.

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 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.
• https://www.admaritime.ae/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/abu-dhabi-maritime-safety-maps-general-updated.pdf — Abu Dhabi, checked 2026-10-28.