The Sultanate of Oman is planning to introduce new water taxi services after it announced regulations that aim to govern companies looking to offer services.
This came following a ministerial decision No. 33/2022 on regulating marine fare units (water taxis) issued by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology earlier today [Sunday, March 13].
As per the text of Article (8), the operator must:
1) Provide a technically qualified crew licensed by the Maritime Authority.
2) Follow up on weather forecasts and warnings issued by the competent authorities, and stop work in dangerous weather conditions.
3) Follow up and implement the instructions issued by the maritime authority.
4) Provide the best available technologies to provide the service to the beneficiaries.
5) Use an effective communication system with its marine fare units (water taxis).
6) Prepare mooring sites of the marine units affiliated with them or work under the management to ensure the safety of their users and ease of access to them.
The new decisions will also govern technical requirements for marine fare units, and set regulations on navigation and communication equipment, safety and rescue equipment, and fire detection and extinguishing equipment.
