Foreign yacht owners receiving entry licenses in 30 minutes
Saudi Arabia’s military and civil servants are working 24 hours a day at Jeddah’s Red Sea Operations Center to provide tourist yachts with entry licenses in half an hour.
The multi-agency center assists foreign yacht owners, and their local agents, in Arabic and English to receive licenses to cross into Saudi waters in support of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to reinforce tourism through facilitating entry to the country for marine activity purposes.
The center is run by the Saudi Borders Guard alongside government bodies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Tourism, the General Directorate of Passports, the Transport General Authority, the Saudi Ports Authority, and the
Public Investment Fund.
“Launching this center comes in implementation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s directives to set up a department for marine activities to reinforce tourism and support achieving the Saudi Vision 2030,” center manager Commander Hasan Al-Asmari told Arab News. “Any request should include the yacht’s registration, its classification, and its marine radio certification. A list of the names of the onboard staff, safety and insurance certificates are also necessary for applying for a license. In 30 minutes, we reply to the request via email with the license approved.”
License requests were made through the toll-free number 1980 from inside the Kingdom and through 009661980 from abroad.
They were also sent by email at maritime_activities@moi.gov.sa
The service was provided to all foreign tourist yacht owners outside the Kingdom, shipping agents and tourist agents, he said.
He said Interior Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif had ordered the establishment of the center.
“In full cooperation and coordination with representatives from different entities, we issue licenses for visiting islands and beaches, as well as permits for practicing various water activities.”
He added that, since the center was launched, almost 30 licenses had been issued for foreign yachts to enter the Kingdom and sail in its waters. The center has also received more than 83 sailingrelated requests for these yachts.