Maldives Ports Limited will begin construction this month on a yacht marina at Uligam in Haa Alif Atoll, a facility the government expects to turn the northernmost inhabited island into a docking point for recreational and commercial vessels entering the country.
Economic Development and Trade Minister Mohamed Saeed said in a social media post that the marina would make Uligam and the wider northern region a hub for such traffic. The facility will offer convenient, safe and straightforward port services, he said.
Uligam already serves as a first stop for yachts sailing into the Maldives from abroad. Large numbers dock there through the peak tourist season and put passengers ashore, but the island has little infrastructure to serve them. The government says the Uligam yacht marina project will close that gap and capture spending that currently passes the island by.
MPL has signed an agreement with the Uligam Island Council to secure the land, and a site has been set aside for the development. The state-owned ports operator has contracted SASe Construction Private Limited to carry out the work.
The first phase will accommodate 18 yachts at a time, according to MPL. The company said the floating platform installed offshore will be three meters wide and will take vessels measuring 12 to 15 meters. The marina will provide the main services yachts require, and immigration and customs officers will operate from the facility.
Uligam sits at the top of the archipelago, near international shipping lanes running through the Indian Ocean. That position underpins the case for the Uligam yacht marina project, which the government links to its wider push to build out maritime services alongside tourism.
The Uligam yacht marina project follows a pattern of state investment in port infrastructure outside Malé, aimed at spreading tourism revenue into the atolls.