If there is a breeze from the north at sunrise except at Kuwait and Aqaba, expect an early fresh sea breeze.
If there is a breeze from the south at sunrise apart from Aqaba, Kuwait, Fujairah and Muscat there could either be an approaching dust storm or several hours of calm
conditions are possible. Wait until the sea breeze arrives before entering port. For Fujairah and Muscat, a moderate southerly or south easterly often means the winds will
not drop to calm quickly.
7.2.2 Red Sea Ports
Abadiya
Data are too sparse for a good distribution. There is a definite wind minimum in March 2 knots or less around 18 or the time that extends into April. Also a slight minimum from
October to November. The March into April period of time is when the sea breeze effects are reduced and the winter weather patterns that produce windy conditions are in decline.
The October to November period is prior to the winter weather systems developing but at a time when the sea breezes are in decline.
Aqaba
Data are too sparse to draw any conclusions. It is to be expected that the comments for Abadiya apply here in terms of seasonality of calms.
Jeddah
A reasonably representative set of wind observations are available from the ship data. The greatest number of calms tend to occur in the seasonal transition periods of April – May and
also October-November. They will almost always be in the early hours of the morning to mid morning. It is rare for the winds to be calm in Jeddah after mid morning. It is very well
exposed to the prevailing NNW winds that blow down the Red Sea. Also periods of calm weather tend to be short lived in this part of the Red Sea 12 hours duration or less. They
are likely to occur at times of elevated wet bulb temperature in the summer months.
7.2.3 Gulf Ports
Kuwait
A very patchy data set with some months too poorly represented to make any comment. The most prolonged calm periods are during the late summer period from August to
September. At this time of the year the Gulf is very warm to hot and sea breezes can become less reliable and more prone to dying out quickly at sunset. Light winds can last
several days at a time. There are shorter calm periods during the colder winter months in between the passage of the northern winter weather systems. The duration of these varies
with the weather pattern.
DhahranBahrain
The dataset is quite variable from one month to the next with some months having insufficient data for firm conclusions to be drawn. There are two periods of the year prone to
calm weather. The first is in March - April during the transition period from winter to summer when the winter weather patterns have eased and the sea breezes are yet to become
reliable. The second is from August to September. At this time of the year the Gulf is hot and the broad scale weather patterns tend to be weak. This situation is exacerbated by the
Gulf of Salwa to the south that becomes even hotter than the broader Gulf during the summer months. These conditions mean light winds over open waters and weak sea
breezes along the coast. These conditions can last several days.
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Dubai
A reasonable dataset is available for the Dubai region. Dubai is relatively well exposed to the northerly winds that tend to blow down the Gulf for much of the year. The calmest
conditions tend to occur in winter December to February when the weather systems force a weak ridge over the central and southern Gulf. Also during the passage of the ITCZ across
the region separating the northerlies from the south easterlies that tend to blow up the Gulf of Oman during the height of the SW Monsoon through the Arabian Sea. This occurs twice
- once in July as it moves northwards and again in September as it returns to the south, with a slight decrease in the number of calms in August compared to the months either side.
These calms are likely to be persistent and coincide with high wet bulb episodes.
Fujairah
This dataset looks suspicious in the fact that there is a very large variation in the number of observations from one month to the next. It is apparent that there is a relatively high
incidence of light wind episodes in the Fujairah region. During the winter months this region tends to sit under a weak ridge. During summer, the ITCZ passes over the region twice. It
tends to be sheltered from the prevailing northerly winds that blow down the Gulf proper and is far enough up the Gulf to be out of the core of the prevailing SE winds during the height of
the SW Monsoon.
Muscat
The region off Muscat has one of the best sets of wind data available. However, the port itself tends to be a little more sheltered than these data would tend to indicate as it sits in the
lee of a point to the south east that shelters it from the prevailing south easterlies during the SW Monsoon. Muscat is subject to calm conditions year round as there tends to be poor
assistance to the sea breeze from the prevailing weather patterns. The windiest months are July and August when the SW Monsoon is at its peak - assisting the SE airflow up the Gulf of
Oman. This dies away quickly with October and November being the calmest time of the year with calm conditions close to 20 of the time. During other times of the year there is
likely to be a weak pressure gradient over the region. However, on most occasions a sea breeze can be expected during the afternoon, dying out quickly at sunset.
7.3 Open Deck Operation Guidelines
