A fire was brought under control by civil protection teams after having erupted, Wednesday evening July 7, in a container inside a ship anchored in the port of Jebel Ali, in Dubai. The city’s press service (Dubai Media Office, DMO) reported that the fire had left no casualties or injured. Such events are rare in the ultra-secure city-state, one of the seven principalities that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking on television, DMO chief executive Mona Al-Marri said the blaze was caused by an explosion that occurred as part of a “Normal accident” due to the presence of flammable products in a container.
The ship was carrying 130 containers “Three of which contained flammable substances”Dubai police told local television channels, adding that the crew consisted of fourteen people.
The authorities of the port of Jebel Ali assured to take “All measures necessary to ensure that the normal movement of ships in the port continues without any disturbance”, added DMO.
The windows shook
At least three residents in the area of this incident have reported doors and windows in their homes being violently shaken by the explosion.
“I was on my balcony. My friend saw something happening as yellow as the sun. I took a picture and then we heard the noise ”, said Clemence Lefaix, who was near the explosion and posted the image of a bright and orange light in the sky, in the middle of the night, in front of buildings.
A resident of the Madina district, near the port, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that she had “Saw the windows shaking”. “I have lived here for fifteen years and this is the first time I see and hear something like this”, she added.
Jebel Ali is the headquarters of the Emirati giant DP World, one of the world’s leading port operators, which manages 49 terminals around the world. The large port in the south of the emirate can accommodate aircraft carriers and was the most active US Navy port of call outside of the United States in 2017, according to the US Congressional Research Service.
The port of Jebel Ali handled a volume of 14.1 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent) in 2019, a decrease of 5.6%, but which still places it among the top ten in the world. Some 8,000 companies are based in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), which contributed 23% to Dubai’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year. It is the largest commercial area in the Middle East.
