'Subscribing to international guidelines and national laws, the EIA process involved consultation with local regulatory authorities as well as international organisations. As the main outcome, an extensive water quality Environmental Management Plan (EMP), which needs to be implemented during pre-construction, construction and operational phases was developed.'

The Lagoons is currently implementing a water quality monitoring programme. The programme encompasses local monitoring for all activities on site and site-wide global monitoring programmes.

Diego Naessens of Jan De Nul Dredging Ltd is the senior project engineer responsible for The Palm. He gave tour participants a remarkable comparison to demonstrate the extent of Dubai’s coastal development. 'The average coastal project in The Netherlands involves a one year timeframe and the movement of around 100,000 tons of rock, he said. 'For The Palm, we are moving over 50,000 tons every 24 hours with a timeframe of four years.'

According to Mr Naessens, Dubai is the number one destination for professionals to come and see what is possible in the field of coastal and waterfront development. 'Coastal processes and land reclamation is so intensive and new initiatives are always underway. For companies like ours, Dubai is the place to be.'

Nawfal Al-Jourani, chief marketing officer of Dubai Maritime City added, 'As the world’s largest maritime development, we are being proactive about engaging with the world’s top industry experts to protect the UAE’s coastlines and uphold environmentally sustainable construction in all aspects of our project, underscoring our commitment as silver sponsor of the conference. We communicated this approach to the participants of our site tour and outlined our vision to transform Dubai Maritime City into a world leading iconic multi-purpose maritime centre that will offer unique benefits to the global maritime community.'

Situated on 227 hectares of manmade peninsula, Dubai Maritime City encompasses two piers, two ship lifts and 28 hectares of parks and green areas. On completion, the project, which is already one year ahead of schedule, will accommodate up to 132,000 people and the integration of leading maritime companies in one destination.