Sandstorm Strikes UAEs Biggest Ports

UAE’s Abu Dhabi’s largest port was nearly shut down on Sunday due to a sandstorm.  The Jebel Ali port located near Dubai was able to cancel its shipping suspension order as the storm cleared in the evening.

Pictured: Port Jebel Ali

Tanker operators at the Jebel Ali port were warned that a sandstorm would be sweeping the area causing a decline in horizontal visibility, and inflicting difficulties for the tankers to move in or out of the port.  The port authorities instructed that movements would have to be restricted due to the sandstorm.

The dust cloud lifted from Dubai on Sunday evening, leaving the suspension order cancelled before it took full effect.  However, one shipping company was affected with frozen operations due to the order.

The Abu Dhabi port of Mina Zayed was briefly closed for 2 hours due to low visibility.

Mina Zayed is Abu Dhabi’s main cargo port, and Jebel Ali is a major cargo & oil products center.

Pictured: Sandstorms as viewed from space.