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Marine Rescue UAE home pageBoaters helping boaters — Free volunteer help map for UAE waters

Help

Marine Rescue UAE is a free, volunteer help-at-sea map for the UAE coast and Musandam, where boats help boats.

About Marine Rescue UAE

Marine Rescue UAE is a volunteer project to help people at sea. There is no company behind it, no fees and no ads, and you need no account.

A boat with a problem that is not an emergency (out of fuel, engine trouble, a tow or a tool needed) presses “I'm in distress” in the app and appears as a red point on the map. A boat with time to help presses “Ready to help” and appears as a blue point with a green circle that shows how far it can get in one hour.

Anyone can follow the live map in the apps or on this website and contact a boat directly by WhatsApp or phone. Every status ends by itself after 6 hours, so the map never fills up with forgotten boats.

How it works

Every boat chooses a role in My Boat in the app: “I need help” or “I can help”. This is what happens on each side.

In trouble

  1. Install the app
  2. Fill in My Boat: boat name, captain and phone
  3. At sea, press “I'm in distress”
  4. Describe the problem and send it
  5. Your boat appears as a red point on the map
  6. Boats ready to help can contact you by WhatsApp or phone
  7. Your status ends after 6 hours, or when you cancel it

Can help

  1. Install the app
  2. Fill in My Boat and choose “I can help”
  3. Press “Ready to help”
  4. Your boat appears as a blue point, with a green circle for how far you can get in one hour
  5. See the red points near you
  6. Contact them by WhatsApp or phone

For App Store and Google Play

The Marine Rescue UAE apps for iPhone and Android are coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.

Our promises to everyone who uses the apps and this website:

  • No advertising.
  • Everything is voluntary: nobody has to help, and nobody is paid to help.
  • We do not sell your information or share it with advertisers or data companies. We use it only to run the service.
  • We keep only your latest GPS position and delete it automatically within 24 hours. There is no location history.
  • We do not make money from this service.
  • Using the service is entirely at your own discretion.
  • Your boat name, captain name and phone number are visible to other users only while your status is active, for at most 6 hours.

The details are in our Privacy policy.

Safety notice

Not a replacement for the Coast Guard. In an emergency call 996 (Coast Guard) or 999 (Police), or use VHF Channel 16.

Marine Rescue UAE only connects boats with each other. It does not alert the Coast Guard or the police, and it cannot promise that a boat will come.

Contact

Questions, ideas or a problem with the app or this website? Write to us.

Email
help@marinerescue.ae
Instagram
instagram.com/marinerescue
Telegram
t.me/marinerescue

Distress calls are also posted to our Telegram channel as they come in.