Aquabus on course for Dubai

Waterbuses designed in Wales could soon be running passenger services around the rapidly-expanding city of Dubai. Aquabus Water Transport Solutions (AWTS) of Cardiff is competing to win the contract to replace many of the 300 small vessels which today transport the city’s inhabitants.

A delegation of the Dubai Road & Traffic Authority’s marine division visited the Welsh capital last month where they met co-founder Roger Meredith and First Minister Rhodri Morgan. Meredith said, “We are competing against other people, Australians especially. We feel we are very much in with a chance. We are the only people we know who design, construct and operate their own boats.”

The Aquabus team have been to Dubai twice this year to discuss the project. AWTS was formed last year through the fusion of Cardiff Bay Cruises and Cardiff Baylink, specifically with the goal of winning the commission to design and construct waterbuses and water taxis for Dubai.

Cardiff Baylink is already building a waterbus in Taffs Well for a soon-to-be-launched service in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff Bay Cruises operates a corporate hospitality vessel Seren-y-Bae based on the hull of their planned 116-passenger waterbus design. A consortium of Welsh companies has been formed for this multi-million-pound venture, including naval architects, marine safety consultants and electronic systems specialists. If it does win the contract, the boats will be manufactured in Dubai, reducing construction costs.

Meredith said, “Boats are not cheap. They are modern, state-of-the-art, built in aluminium and each would cost in excess of £100,000 although, in Dubai, it will be cheaper because of the labour costs.” He said, “They are looking for a turnkey operation – they want people to train the crews and operate the vessels and maintain them: a complete package.

He has hopes that operations in Dubai could begin “possibly in the middle of this year.” In the meantime, he is looking forward to launching regular waterbus services in the capital. He said, “Our waterbus should be on the water by the end of this month. We are looking at a fleet of possibly four of them.”