The USNS Rappahannock, a fuel resupply ship, fired on what two U.S. officials called a "small, white pleasure craft" 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Dubai port of Jebel Ali.

CNN: U.S. Navy ship fires at small boat in Persian Gulf

Some see Dubai's Jebel Ali port as an excellent gateway for China into the African continent.

CNN: Middle East and China forge ties over oil

At Al Hamriya, box after box of dates is unloaded from the dhows onto metal shipping containers which are taken by truck to Dubai's main shipping hub, Jebel Ali Port.

CNN: Dubai ports feed global appetite for dates

Panama's famous canal links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the UAE is home to the Jebel Ali port -- the biggest in the Middle East and the largest man-made harbor in the world.

CNN: Connecting Panama and the UAE