Operators of oil storage and refueling facilities at a key shipping hub in the United Arab Emirates are grappling with ongoing disruptions caused by heavy rains and flooding this week.

GPS Chemoil LLC, which operates terminals and bunkering services at the port of Fujairah, declared force majeure on Thursday, Argus Media reported. Other oil facilities halted operations, creating uncertainty about cargo logistics in what is a vital trading hub.

Sitting just outside the Persian Gulf, Fujairah has become pivotal for trading in both local supplies and those from further afield. Any long-lasting, significant damage and disruption would undermine that hard-won status.

Storage tanks operated by Rotterdam-based VTTI BV at Fujairah are undamaged but aren’t currently operating, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. VTTI is owned by Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, Australia-based IFM Investors and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.

Adnoc shut down operations at its Fujairah terminal following unusually heavy rainfall, diverting oil to the Jebel Dhanna terminal instead, a company spokesman said Friday. 

Koninklijke Vopak NV, a partner in an oil storage company, received the message all of its people are safe and that “asset integrity is good,” according to a press officer. Vopak Horizon Fujairah Ltd., which is partially owned by Kuwait-based Independent Petroleum Group, Horizon Terminals Ltd. and the Fujairah government, operates 73 tanks, six jetties and one single point mooring buoy.

Excessive rainfall and storms closed the Port of Fujairah to shippers on Wednesday evening local time. It partly re-opened on Thursday, and several ships were able to complete loading operations on Friday morning for the first time since Wednesday, said deputy managing director Khalil Ibrahim by phone. There’s a small backlog of ships, he added.

Some oil storage and bunkering facilities remain shut, but most are likely to re-start operations on Friday or Saturday, said Ibrahim.