Skip to main content
Tier 2 · Ras Al Khaimah

RAK Maritime City

RAK Maritime City Free Zone Authority

Saqr Port / Free Zone, Rams-Shaam Road, Ras Al Khaimah (Administration Building, P.O. Box 5130) · Est. 2009 · RAK Maritime City Free Zone Authority (administered under RAK Ports; RAK Ports CEO Roy Cummins)

AED 35,000/ yr
high confidenceVerified 18 Jul 2026official ↗
Find zones like this →
Best for

Shipbuilders, ship repair yards, yacht manufacturers, offshore fabricators, marine suppliers and bulk/project-cargo logistics operators that need quayside industrial land adjacent to a deep-water bulk port.

Not ideal for

Consultants, freelancers, e-commerce or service businesses wanting cheap flexi-desk licenses, transparent online pricing, or a Dubai business address; also companies needing fast bank account opening.

01Capability profile

Six independent dimensions, scored from official zone data.

?
Banking7/15
?
Visa scale15/15
?
Cost (lower=better)8/20
?
Activity breadth12/25
?
Workspace options6/15
?
Location6/10
02Where RAK Maritime City sits

Tick marks for every zone, RAK Maritime City highlighted. The shape of the field, not just the rank.

Year 1 cost← lower is better

RAK Maritime City: 4th percentile (AED 35,000) · Licence + registration, AED.

Setup time← lower is better

RAK Maritime City: 40th percentile (10 days) · Total estimated days from application to operational.

Visa caphigher is better →

RAK Maritime City: 27th percentile (30 visas) · Absolute maximum visa allocation. Values above 500 clipped to the right edge so the bulk of the distribution stays readable.

Banking ease← better
Easy
4
Moderate
73
Difficult
15
Very difficult
1

RAK Maritime City: Difficult · Corporate bank account opening difficulty. Each cell is one zone.

03Costs

Year-one license, renewals, and 5-year totals in AED.

35,000
Year 1 minimum · AED
mid tier
Show in
Base licence
AED 25,000
Registration
AED 10,000
Renewal (year 2+)
AED 25,000
3-year total
AED 85,000
2-year visa cost
AED 2,800
Hidden & one-off costs
Establishment card
AED 1,000
Cancellation fee
AED 2,500
Visa renewal
AED 2,500
Visa cancellation
AED 500
Emirates ID (per visa)
AED 370
Dependent / spouse visa
AED 3,000
Year-on-year fee tracking begins 2026 — changes appear here as they accrue.
Indicative, from published ratesOfficial fee schedule ↗Verified 2026-07high confidence

Notify me if fees change — get an email if RAK Maritime City updates its licence or setup costs.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Only emails you when costs change.

04Visas & workspace

Visa caps, workspace options, and family-sponsorship rules.

Visa allocation
Maximum visas
30
Flexi-desk cap
0
Office cap
5
Warehouse cap
3
Family sponsorship
Available
Freelancer permit
Not available
Medical required
Yes
Processing time
~14 days
Workspace options
Virtual office
No
Flexi-desk
No
Coworking
No
Dedicated office
No
Executive office
No
Warehouse
Yes
Industrial unit
Yes
Land plot
Yes
Ejari issued
No
Parking
Yes
05Banking & setup

Banking difficulty, partner banks, and setup timeline.

Banking
Difficulty
Difficult
Time to account
~70 days
Minimum deposit
AED 15,000
Corp tax rate
0%
Audit cost (est)
AED 4,000
UBO filing
Required
AML / KYC
enhanced
Partner banks
Contact zone authority for banking guidanceRAKBankEmirates NBD
Setup timeline
  1. Registration mode
    In-person visit required at some stage
  2. Documents & application
    Passport, visa, business plan — ~3–5 days
  3. Licence issued
    ~5 business days after submission
  4. Bank account active
    Additional ~70 days · Difficult banking
  5. Operational
    Typically ~10 days, up to ~30 days
06Package pricing

3 packages from official fee schedules.

All figures in AED, from official fee schedules. Visa and health-insurance costs are additional.

PackageVisasYear 1Renewal
Maritime Business License – StandardBest value3AED 25,000AED 20,000
Maritime Industrial – Yard Unit5AED 40,000AED 32,000
Ship Repair & Services4AED 32,000AED 26,000
07Permitted activities

Activity categories, restrictions, and approval flags.

Unlimited activitiesMainland selling: NoDual license: No

Shipbuilding and ship repair

Yacht manufacturing

Offshore/marine fabrication

Maritime and shipping services

Bulk cargo handling & storage

Tank storage

Marine engineering and repairs

Categories
Industrial (manufacturing, processing, assembling, packaging)Commercial (construction contracting, maritime services, rental, maintenance & repair)Trading (import, export, distribution, warehousing)Maritime & shipping servicesLogistics & freightShipbuilding & ship repairOffshore support & fabrication
Matched industry clusters
tradingindustriallogistics
Restricted
Activities contrary to UAE laws and public moralsBanking/financial services requiring separate regulators (not licensed here)Environmentally restricted industrial processes without federal approvals
Require approval
RAK EPDA (environment) NOC for applicable industrial activitiesImmigration/compliance approvals per RAKMC FZ Rules 2017
08Jurisdiction & ecosystem

Legal framework, tax status, audit requirements, and zone focus — every value sourced.

Common lawNo
VAT designated zoneYes
QFZP eligible (0% tax)Yes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Mainland permitYes
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Audit requiredNo
Inferred · 2026-07-18
Economic substancestandard
Inferred · 2026-07-18

This zone offers physical-office options sufficient for a standard QFZP substance posture, though the bar still applies at the entity level (CTGFZP1).

Focus: Maritime & shipping, Shipbuilding & repair, Yacht manufacturing, Offshore fabrication & oil/gas services, Industrial manufacturing, Bulk & project cargo logistics

Not published (last official return: 15 companies / 18 valid licences - MOET registrar; consultant claims of 500+ unverified) companiessmall communityNetworking events: NoIncubator: No
Notable companies

Sunreef Yachts (65,000 sqm yacht shipyard, 1,300+ staff, AED 54M+ invested), APT Global (AED 50M, 700,000 sqft fabrication facility, MoU Feb 2026)

QFZP, audit, mainland-permit and substance values are sourced where the zone authority or FTA publishes them, and inferred from published zone characteristics otherwise. How we determine these values.

09Strengths & limitations

5 strengths · 3 caveats.

Strengths
  • One of few UAE free zones with true quayside industrial land: plots from 25,000 sqm with optional exclusive berths, 6.5 m draft, adjacent to Saqr Port (100M+ tonnes/yr capacity)
  • VAT Designated Zone status (Cabinet Decision 59/2017 list) - goods movements under customs control can be out of VAT scope
  • Proven heavy-industry track record: Sunreef Yachts shipyard and APT Global fabrication facility anchored in the zone
  • 25-year renewable land leases with reclamation options for large tenants; Saqr 2.0 expansion will deepen drafts to 14-18 m
  • QFZP 0% corporate tax on qualifying income; 100% foreign ownership
Caveats
  • No published fee schedule or online setup: license (AED 25,000) + registration (AED 10,000) confirmed only via MOET registrar; facility/land pricing entirely quote-based
  • Not suited to service/consulting SMEs: no flexi-desk or small-office packages, visa quotas tied to industrial facilities
  • Banking is slow: UAE banks apply enhanced due diligence to maritime/industrial entities (8-16 week account opening common)

Not ideal for: Consultants, freelancers, e-commerce or service businesses wanting cheap flexi-desk licenses, transparent online pricing, or a Dubai business address; also companies needing fast bank account opening.

10Recent developments

2 policy and pricing updates on record.

  1. 2025-Q1RAK Maritime City announced a capacity expansion with new marine service berths to accommodate increased vessel traffic from regional shipping growth.
  2. 2024-Q3RAK Maritime City signed a cooperation agreement with Gulf Cooperation Council maritime authorities to streamline vessel registration and maintenance certification processes.
11Tax considerations

5 tax questions relevant to this zone.

Questions to raise with your tax advisor

  1. Does your planned revenue qualify under the QFZP qualifying-income rules?

    QFZP 0% only applies to qualifying income. Mainland trading or revenue from non-free-zone clients is generally non-qualifying and taxed at 9%.

  2. Will you need audited accounts even if this zone doesn't require them?

    FTA corporate-tax filing typically expects audited accounts for revenue above AED 50M, and banks often request them at much lower thresholds.

  3. Do your goods movements actually fall inside the VAT Designated Zone treatment?

    Designated Zone status applies to goods within the zone, not services. Most service businesses get no VAT benefit from being inside one.

  4. How much of your revenue will come from mainland UAE customers, and how does that affect QFZP and 5% VAT obligations?

    Mainland revenue beyond ad-hoc levels can disqualify QFZP and triggers full 9% corporate tax plus standard VAT on supplies.

  5. Do any of your customers, suppliers, or shareholders meet the FTA's related-party definition?

    Related-party transactions need transfer-pricing documentation and may push otherwise-qualifying income into the 9% bracket.

These prompts are due-diligence questions, not tax advice. Confirm every answer with a UAE-licensed tax advisor before incorporating.

12Frequently asked

3 common questions specific to RAK Maritime City.

13Similar zones in Ras Al Khaimah

3 comparable zones in the same emirate.

14About this data

Last verified 2026-07-18 · high confidence.

RAK Maritime City data is sourced from official zone authority publications, government fee schedules, and where available, verified against direct communications with the zone. All figures in AED.

Location
Saqr Port / Free Zone, Rams-Shaam Road, Ras Al Khaimah (Administration Building, P.O. Box 5130)
Established
2009
Authority
RAK Maritime City Free Zone Authority (administered under RAK Ports; RAK Ports CEO Roy Cummins)
Last verified
2026-07-18
Confidence
high
Methodology
How we score →
Cited source
Fee data sourced from the official fee schedule, fetched 2026-07-18. View source ↗
Per-field citations
How we verify every zone →
15Founder reviews

What founders who've registered here say.

4.2★28 reviewsGoogle

Founder reviews

No founder reviews yet for RAK Maritime City. Be the first to share your experience.

16Take the next step

Not sure if RAK Maritime City is the right fit?

Complex situations — holding structures, regulated activities, multi-jurisdiction setups — benefit from a 20-minute call with a specialist. No commitment required.

Get the RAK Maritime City dossier as a PDF

At-a-glance metrics, strengths, trade-offs, partner banks, and a setup checklist for RAK Maritime City. We email a download link to your inbox.

We use your email only to send this report and a short follow-up sequence. Unsubscribe anytime.

No tracking cookies. Privacy Policy