UAE Building New Port To Bypass The Strait Of Hormuz
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
New facility on the Emirates’ east coast is past the tip of the strait but would still be vulnerable to Iranian drone and missile attacks.
These three paragraphs add more details.
The United Arab Emirates is building another port in an attempt to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, having already expedited the construction of a new oil pipeline.
The new port would join an existing facility in Fujairah along the country’s eastern coastline and past the tip of the strait that Iran closed to shipping during the war with the United States.
This Google Map shows the Eastern side of the Arabian Peninsular.
Note.
Fujairah is indicated by the red arrow.
Iran is the land mass in the North-East corner of the map.
The Strait of Hormuz is between the Arabian Peninsular and Iran.
As you come South from Fujairah, you pass through Muscat and then Iran.
Oman has two deep water ports at Duqm and Salalah.
This second Google Map shows the Port of Fujairah and the Strait of Hormuz.
Note.
- The Port Of Fujairah is indicated by the red arrow.
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi are indicated on the map.
- The Strait of Hormuz is between the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
- There is a passenger train between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi that opened recently and takes an hour and 45 minutes.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the route of Etihad Rail.
Note.
- The Port Of Fujairah is indicated by the blue arrow.
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi are on the Western coast.
- Etihad Rail has a Wikipedia entry.
- Etihad Rail has a web site.
- It is both a passenger and freight railway.
- It is 559 miles long.
It is planned to be extended to Saudi Arabia.
I can see Etihad Rail being very successful.
Could Duqm And/Or Salalah In Oman Be Developed As Oil And Gas Ports To Bypass Hormuz?
This REPEATED Google Map shows the Eastern side of the Arabian Peninsular.
The deep-water ports of Duqm and Salalah are shown on this map.
When I put the question in the title of this section to Google AI, I received this answer.
Yes, the Port of Duqm and the Port of Salalah are uniquely positioned to serve as critical oil and gas export hubs that bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Both deep-water ports are located on Oman’s open Arabian Sea coast, entirely avoiding the narrow maritime chokepoint.
Developing these ports into massive oil and gas export hubs is highly feasible but presents logistical and financial challenges:
Pipeline Corridors: Bypassing Hormuz would require constructing extensive, multi-billion dollar cross-border pipeline networks spanning over 1,800 kilometers from oil-producing hubs in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to the Omani coast.
Cost & Timeline: Estimates suggest a twin-pipeline project terminating in Duqm and Salalah—capable of moving 10 million barrels per day—would cost upwards of $50 billion and take up to seven years to complete.
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): Qatar and other nations could also route gas to the Omani coast, though doing so would require building multibillion-dollar liquefaction and export terminals on the Arabian Sea.
Regional Alliances: Projects at this scale require deep cross-border energy integration and substantial political consensus among the Gulf states.
Although, this route would be expensive, it would keep oil and gas for countries like China, India, Japan and Korea well away from Iran and their partners in crime the Houthis.
The Times article finished with this paragraph.
Plans now include pipelines that could run through Israel, Turkey and Syria to the Mediterranean and Europe, securing supplies to western countries but creating longer shipping times to China and India — both major consumers of Middle East oil.
Conclusion
The one common factor in all these plans is that Iran is sidelined.
And also alternative infrastructure must be better than the destructive US-Iran War.
Mega Airport Costing £24billion In Europe To Rival Heathrow And Dubai
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Daily Express.
A new mega airport is being built in Europe, and it is set to rival the likes of Dubai and London Heathrow in terms of size and capacity for passengers and planes alike
These three paragraphs add more details.
A plush new airport could be touching down in Europe, set to rival London’s Heathrow and even the esteemed Dubai International, as it aims to link the entire continent in unprecedented ways.
The Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, a proposed $32.5 billion project, is a fresh aviation gateway in Warsaw that carries the burden of Poland’s ambitious mega airport aspirations. However, the concept is swiftly progressing, with the official approval and handover of the passenger terminal design marking a significant leap forward.
This suggests the colossal airport is officially moving into its next phase of development. The question remains, will this new progression challenge the supremacy of the Middle East, home to both the world’s largest airport, King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the busiest, Dubai International Airport?
Note.
- In English, Centralny Port Komunikacyjny means Central Communications Port.
- CPK’s forecasted passenger capacity makes it a formidable contender as the new hub for Europe.
- Dubai is on course to handle 100 million passengers by the end of next year, thanks to its strategic geographical position with other continents, while the Polish project will eventually accommodate up to 44 million.
- n 2024, Heathrow Airport welcomed a record 83.9 million passengers, a 6% increase from the previous year.
Even the busiest airports in Europe handle far fewer passengers than Dubai.
Central Communications Port has a Wikipedia entry, which has this first paragraph.
The Central Transport Hub is a planned major infrastructure project in Poland aimed at the construction of a new international airport and the development of a nationwide integrated transport network. The airport is planned to be located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Warsaw, connected to a new high-speed rail network and controlled-access highway system linking it with much of the rest of the country.
Note.
- The airport will be designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Buro Happold.
- Initially the airport is planned to have two runways, but will eventually be expanded to four.
- The combined airport and railway station is planned to serve 40 million passengers per year, double the size of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
- The long-term goal is about 100 million passengers per year.
These are my thoughts.
The Airport’s Location
The Wikipedia entry for the airport has a section called Location, which has this first paragraph.
The airport’s planned site is about 40 km west of Warsaw, next to the village Stanisławów which is part of Gmina Baranów in Grodzisk Mazowiecki County. The Baranow commune occupies a significant part of the Grodzisk County and, despite its rural character, has an extensive road infrastructure. The A2 autostrada and railway lines run in the immediate vicinity of the potential construction site, and Wrocław (Expressway S8) and Poznań (National road 92) is nearby.
It sounds to me, that a British equivalent airport, would be a four-runway airport at Birmingham Airport with connections to the M1, M6, HS2 and the West Coast Main Line.
Rail Connections
The Wikipedia entry says this about rail connections.
Planned train connections from the CPK will take 15 minutes to Warsaw Central railway station, 25 minutes to Łódź Fabryczna railway station, and 2 hours to most other major Polish cities, such as Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk. The construction of a high-speed train to Frankfurt (Oder) is also planned, which is to shorten the travel time on the Berlin-CPK route to under 3.5 hours
I suspect that Rail Baltica’s trains between Berlin and Helsinki via Warsaw, Kaunus, Riga, Bialystok and Tallinn will also stop at the airport.
The Airport Will Become A Gateway To North-East Europe
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Central Communications Port become a low-cost gateway to the surrounding countries., like Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and hopefully Ukraine.
Polish Hospitality
Consider.
- Most Poles speak English better, than what I does!
- There are several large Polish cities that are worth a visit.
- The food is excellent, as the local basic ingredients are of high quality.
- I have spent about a month in Poland and I’ve stayed in all levels of accommodation from the lowest to the highest and have never felt need to complain.
- They handle my gluten-free diet with no problem.
My experience of Belarus was also similar.
Rape Justice – Dubai Style
This story is horrific.
Why anybody would want to go to such an awful place, I do not know. I went once with C and we we found it a hot concrete jungle with no soul.
The Dubai Vodka Set
I bet the sheikhs in Dubai like this story.
It shows what a liberal bunch they are to allow such excess and drinking of vodka.
The writer, Paul Moss, didn’t describe those that invited him to dinner, but various obvious images come to mind.
I went to Dubai once, and there was little of the historic Dubai to visit. The best bit was the ferries or abras across Dubai Creek.
Dubai
I’ve been to Dubai once and had a great holiday with my late wife.
Would I go again?
I doubt for a holiday, as there is so little to do except lie in the sun, shop and look at a couple of museums. The highlight of the holiday was the wonderful ferries called abras, that cross the Dubai creek. Now that there is a metro, this may hasten the end for these archaic ferries.
I suppose I might stopover for a few days at the Ritz Carlton, especially as it would appear you can get there from the airport on the metro. That was a very good hotel and because it is smaller than most, it is a lot more personal. But then Ritz Carlton hotels seem to generally be worth trying.
I remember that we booked the one in Istanbul directly and when we got there, they were very sorry but didn’t have the requested room for us. Did we mind having a suite at the same price? Did we mind? Of course we did! If you want a great hotel in Istanbul, it is to be recommended, as it just by the end of a tram line, which takes you to all the sites.
So apart from the few things I’ve mentioned, Dubai is a soulless place and I do wonder if this has contributed to its troubles over the recent days.
I just like something with a bit more life and adventure.
The Anonymous Widower 