Status of Middle Eastern Port Transportation
Date:2026-05-27
Middle Eastern ports are currently facing triple pressures: geopolitical conflict, severe congestion, and holiday shutdowns, resulting in a highly tense and chaotic situation.
Severe Cargo Delays, Two Core Ports "Red Alert"
Jebel Ali Port (UAE): The busiest port in the Middle East, currently experiencing severe congestion, with cargo delays exceeding 5 days.
Dammam Port (Saudi Arabia): One of Saudi Arabia's most important ports, also marked with a congestion "red alert," with delays of at least 5 days.
Chain Reaction: Congestion has led to a large number of ships queuing, empty containers unable to be returned in time, and some routes have begun to experience "cargo skipping" (cargo being postponed to the next voyage) and port-skipping phenomena.
Strait of Hormuz Restricted, Channel Blocked
The root cause of all this lies in the continuous restriction of passage through the Strait of Hormuz since the end of February this year. To avoid high-risk areas, many international shipping giants (such as MSC and Maersk) have been forced to suspend or adjust their routes, leading to a surge of cargo being transshipped through the ports of Khor Fekam and Fujairah on the UAE's east coast.
Alternative ports are overcrowded, putting pressure on all sea, land, and air transport.
The situation at the two major alternative ports is also dire:
Ports are overflowing: With a large influx of ships, the anchorages (ship waiting areas) at Khor Fekam and Fujairah ports are saturated, leaving subsequent ships stranded at sea.
The desert becomes a thoroughfare: An emergency land-based freight network spanning the Arabian Desert is operating at high speed, with a convoy of approximately 3,500 trucks working 24 hours a day to transfer goods from the Persian Gulf coast to Red Sea ports.
Holiday shutdowns exacerbate the situation.
Starting around May 27th, more than 50 Muslim countries entered the Eid al-Adha holiday, lasting several days to over ten days.
Customs shutdown: Customs, commodity inspection, and port administration departments in various countries will experience a sharp decline in efficiency or even complete closure, leading to a precipitous drop in clearance speed.
Capacity contraction: Inland truck and rail transport capacity will be significantly reduced, further exacerbating cargo backlogs at ports.
Soaring costs: Delays caused by holidays may result in high demurrage and container demurrage fees, further eroding profits.
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