Cargo loading and bunker delivery operations in the UAE's port of Fujairah, the Middle East's main storage and bunkering centre, have been suspended because of tropical storm Shaheen.
The port has not been closed completely as the storm has largely bypassed Fujairah, making landfall in Oman and moving inland through Oman and towards the border of Saudi Arabia.
"Barges are on standby, but the port has not been closed," a bunker trader said.
Market participants hope operations would resume later today or tomorrow at the latest. Photos from Fujairah, received from traders, showed a relatively calm sea around the port but no vessels or barges moving.
The port had advised that winds would reach 60 km/h in the evening of 3 October, with gusts over 74 km/h, causing waves over four metres high.
Cargo operations at the Fujairah Oil Terminal Tanker were to be stopped once wind speed reached 46 km/h, and at Main Quay once the speed reached 65 km/h, according to the notice issued by the port.
Vessel movements within Sohar port were suspended until further notice in Oman since 2 October.
According to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Shaheen made a landfall along Oman's northern coast, close to Sohar, the site of a 198,000 b/d capacity refinery.
Oman rescheduled some international and domestic flights to and from the sultanate's biggest airport, Muscat International, because of adverse weather conditions.
