Jounieh Floating Island
to be launched in 2016

Project breaks ground on a new maritime industry

The Jounieh Floating Island, now under construction, will be launched in mid 2016.

Abdullah Daou, founder of Beirut International Marine Industry & Commerce (BIMIC), designed this first of a kind floating island at a cost of $135 million. It took 15 years of research by Daou, whose company is the designer and builder of the floating island.

Shairco, a Saudi company chaired by Talal bin Ali Al Shair, is equity-funding the project and has majority shares. Shairco is licensed to build and market floating islands in the Gulf states and North Africa, said Soir Daou, Architect and Director of the BIMIC.

The structure has a 3,500 square meter flat surface and its built-up area will be 13,500 m2. It will include a five-star hotel with 136 rooms and will have a rooftop restaurant that can host 340 people. The island’s main deck will be dedicated for events for up to 1,150 people. The island will have a swimming pool, a nightclub, a spa, a gym, a VIP movie theater, and a helicopter pad. The island is for sale and the buyer will operate it and manage its activities. According to Daou many clients have approached Daou with interest in buying it. “The selling price has not yet been determined, as we are waiting for the project’s completion,” she said.

More than 420 engineers and technicians are engaged in its construction. The island is built in four workshops totalling 35,000 m2, located in Kabrechmoun, Baisour, Haret Sakher, and Tripoli.

This floating resort cruises with its own self-propelling French Baudouin engines along the coastline at a five knot speed. It can also cruise to other seas, but not oceans, as it will require different technical settings, according to Daou.

“The floating island is designed to follow the rules and regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Safety of Life and Sea (SOLAS) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL),” she said. The construction of the island is under the supervision of the Greek Maritime Society, the International Naval Survey Bureau. “The project is being delivered according to the highest international business and ecological standards,” Daou said. The project has an on-board desalination plant, which will provide it with drinking water, as well as a drainage, sewage, and solid waste treatment plants.

The company has acquired a permit from the Maritime Transport Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to allow the island to sail.