Mr. Muhammad Tahir Lakhani, who also comes over as the proud member of the famous Propeller Club of the United States, further serves as the Chairman and the Managing Director of highly reputed Dubai Trading Agency LLC (DTA) Dubai, UAE.
During his long reign as an established entrepreneur, he has played a critical role in advocating the UAE as an essential zonal and global centre for maritime trade and logistics. While being born in Karachi Pakistan on 27th April 1962 within a highly reputed family, Mr. Tahir Lakhani also acted as a representative of UAE as a Vice Chairman of the UAE Association until 2019.
Mr. Muhammad Tahir Lakhani further showed his excellence as an acclaimed sportsperson, right from an early age. He then went on to taste some great achievements in the tennis world out of his great talent and hardcore efforts.
Going in the same direction, He then turned out to be the youngest tennis player ever to feature for his country at the Davis Cup. Well, he didn’t stop right there and further marked his presence in the Junior Wimbledon. After grabbing all the big fame in tennis world, he then went on to explore some big opportunities in the ship recycling industry.
Marking his presence in the industry
If we run through his immense experience in the industry, he stepped into the same industry at a young age of just 20 years, Tahir Lakhani worked at one of the ship recycling yards that belonged to his friend in Pakistan. He kept on working in the same 8 am to 8 pm shift while observing and managing the movement of steel plates.
After grabbing all the big experience in the industry, he then went on to migrate from Pakistan and opted for Dubai as his next big destination. In 1985, Mr. Muhammad Tahir Lakhani started with the buying & selling of ships. It must be mentioned that the business was focused towards the buying and selling of ships to and from the recycling yards for decommissioning purpose.
Speaking of his big achievements, Tahir Lakhani Dubai became the first-ever ‘cash buyer’ of vessels to establish full time operations in the UAE. Simultaneously, he also became the first ever person from the country to hold the Green Recycling Conference in Dubai, while tying up with international maritime publication Tradewinds.
Major achievements and recognitions
Tahir Lakhani struck his biggest deal as the purchase of three ex-Adriatic Tankers VLCC’s in international waters off the UAE and then ensuring their delivery to the breakers in Pakistan. In those times, the deal was termed as the biggest ship decommissioning deals ever. His ship recycling business secures some big achievements by 1997 and his gained the tag of biggest “cash buyer” of ships in the world due to their significant involvement in the buying and selling of more than 100 ships yearly.
After understanding the importance of an international platform in business terms, Mr. Tahir Lakhani then shifted to the UK in 1999 along with his family. Muhammad Tahir Lakhani further became a British citizen in 2009 but still continued with his visits to Dubai to check through his business concerns. Eventually, in the year 2014, he shifted back to Dubai to solely focus on the day to day business activities of his ship recycling agency.