Drone strikes Fujairah Oil Industry Zone — advanced fire, no casualties; Middle East's largest refined products storage hub

A drone targeted the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone on Monday March 16, causing an advanced fire, the Fujairah Media Office confirmed. Civil defence teams were working to control the fire. No immediate casualties were reported. The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone is geographically and strategically critical: it hosts the Middle East's largest commercial storage capacity for refined petroleum products, and it sits outside the Strait of Hormuz on the Gulf of Oman coast of the UAE. As the Hormuz Strait has been effectively closed since February 28, Fujairah has become a key alternative routing node for vessels seeking to trade Gulf energy outside the strait. Striking Fujairah extends the Iranian campaign from blocking Hormuz to also targeting the Hormuz bypass route. Guardian March 16 live blog first reported the Fujairah attack at 09:17 UTC on March 16.