ATTEND the Shopping Soiree, where you will find quality, handmade crafts and gift items from local vendors, including toys, homewares, clothing, artwork, jewellery and accessories. From 10am to 2pm, Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Khalifa City A, Abu Dhabi, info@shoppingsoiree.ae
SEE the opening of the exhibition Fluid Forms, in which the artist Faig Ahmed presents a solo exhibition that explores the cultural and physical dexterity of Middle Eastern carpets. He employs weaving techniques to create rugs with contemporary design and structure such as Shift (pictured). At 7pm, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Building 10, DIFC Gate Village, Dubai, 04 425 0400, www.cuadroart.com
BOOK a consultation this month at Vivandi Hair Spa and receive either an intensive wheat moisturising treatment or an anti-dandruff session free, or enjoy 50 per cent off the regular price of a Hair B. Toxx treatment. From 9.30am to 6.30pm, Suite 404 B2, Gulf Towers, Oud Metha Road, Dubai, 04 335 3336, www.hairspa.ae
SEE an exhibition of drawings by international artists as part of the 2014 conference Crossing the Line: Drawing in the Middle East, hosted by American University in Dubai. thejamjar, Street 17A, Al Quoz, Dubai, 04 341 7303, www.thejamjardubai.com
TAKE PART in a photography competition organised by the Fondation Alliance Française, which ends on January 8. Submit photos that represent the theme Climate: A State of Emergency. Free to participate, Oud Metha, Alliance Française Dubai, 04 335 8712, www.afdubai.org
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
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