July 8, 2021: The UAE media office said on Thursday that the fire on the container ship had been contained after an explosion in Dubai’s main port, with no casualties reported.
At least three residents in the area of the blast, whose cause could not be ascertained, shattered windows and doors in their homes. The Dubai Media Office wrote on Twitter, “The fire inside the container of the ship aboard the ship at Jebel Ali Port has been contained, no casualties have been reported.”
The office added in another post that the vessel was preparing a dock. Accompanying the post was a video of firefighters carrying fire-fighting containers on a large vessel, in addition to their logos, as flames shattered the reputation of the coast. Dubai police said three of the 130 containers on board contained flammable substances and 14 crew members were on board. An AFP correspondent at the scene said a helicopter was hovering overhead when smoke billowed from tight security.
According to the U.S. Ports Research Service, the port is capable of handling aircraft carriers and was the busiest U.S. Navy port outside the U.S. in 2017.
According to the Dubai Media Office, the Port Authority said it was “taking all necessary steps to ensure the smooth flow of ships to the port without any interference”. Such incidents are rare in the UAE, which is one of the seven richest people in the UAE.
A resident of Dubai’s Marina district near the port of Jubail Ali told AFP he had “seen the windows shake”. “I’ve been here for 15 years and this is the first time I’ve seen and heard of it,” he said. There are 8,000 companies based in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jaffa) that accounted for 23% of Dubai’s GDP last year. It is the largest trading zone in the Middle East.
The glittering Gulf of Dubai has transformed itself from a sleepy port city into a regional travel, trade and financial services hub in 50 years. The city-state now has a population of more than 3 million, mostly foreigners, compared to just 15,000 in the 1950s. In contrast to Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s leading member, who sits on a huge petroleum wealth, the emirate has worked to develop the non-oil industry in Dubai, dwindling oil resources and diversifying services.
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