Cyclone Shaheen: Owners of ships, marine units warned

Muscat: Marine shipping and land transport companies have been warned of the impact of Shaheen, which is moving towards Oman.

It is expected to decrease in intensity from a category one cyclone to a tropical storm before making landfall.

Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) has asked transport firms to take precautions before embarking on any journeys over the next few days, because of the rough weather.

“The ministry alerts all land transport companies on the importance of taking the utmost care and caution and following up on developments in the weather situation from their official sources before setting out on transport duty,” said the government body in a statement.

Emergency management teams to deal with issues relating to communications and IT that occur during the storm have also been readied.

Shipping companies and marine captains have also been advised to check weather conditions before setting sail.

“To ensure the safety of maritime navigation in the Omani territorial waters, the Ministry would like to warn all owners of ships, marine vessels and shipping companies of the need to take the utmost care and caution and follow up on developments of the weather situation from their official sources before embarking on journeys,” added MTCIT.