08OCT2019 - NEWS - Oil Hub of Fujairah Thriving Amid Rising Geopolitical Risk

Driving around the burgeoning Middle Eastern oil shipping and storage hub of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), you wouldn’t notice the region is on edge following simmering geopolitical tensions. Before drone strikes on neighbouring Saudi Arabian oil installations caught the world’s attention in September, the Emirati port was already in the news, though perhaps not for reasons it wanted to be featured for.

In May, four tankers were attacked off Fujairah’s coast in the Gulf of Oman. These included two Saudi Arabian registered oil tankers, a Norwegian registered oil tanker, and an Emirati registered bunkering ship; all of whom were anchored in UAE territorial waters for bunkering. In June, two more tankers were attacked in the same maritime corridor raising further alarm.