What changed?
Status at our review on 1 November 2026: regular mainline container transits through the Strait of Hormuz have not resumed. Ports inside the Strait are served mainly by feeders, regional shuttles and road links. Public trackers such as straits.live show daily transits far below pre-crisis levels.
| Date (2026) | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| About 28 February – 1 March | Mainline carriers stop transiting Hormuz as the regional conflict begins; schedules break and ships discharge at the first accessible port | Freightos |
| 8 March | Dubai Customs Notice 03/2026 allows bonded trucking from Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to Jebel Ali, with Jebel Ali kept as the final destination on the bill of lading | Al Tamimi & Company |
| March | War-risk surcharges reported at USD 2,000–4,000 per TEU | Xeneta |
| March – May | The Dubai–Oman green corridor through Hatta scales up, and a Sharjah–Oman corridor opens in May | The National |
| Mid-June | A short-lived understanding allows some ships through; closure conditions return from mid-July | Market reports |
| July | Gulftainer launches a UAE–Umm Qasr feeder service | Iraq Business News |
| 2–8 August | Median anchorage waits of about 9.25 days at Fujairah, 4.81 days at Khor Fakkan and 4.55 days at Sohar | Nautica Post |
| August | MSC stops accepting cargo transiting Jeddah unless its final destination is in Saudi Arabia | Nautica Post |
Waiting times and surcharges change week to week. Treat the figures above as dated snapshots, not forecasts.
What does it mean for your cargo?
What it means for your cargo depends on where it is going.
- Imports to Dubai and the UAE: containers are usually discharged at Khor Fakkan or Fujairah on the UAE east coast, or at Sohar in Oman, then trucked to Jebel Ali or straight to the consignee. Under Notice 03/2026 the move from Khor Fakkan or Fujairah can run in bond; see our bonded trucking advisory.
- Exports and re-exports from Dubai (for example to East Africa): boxes leave Jebel Ali on a feeder or are trucked to an east-coast port for loading, with earlier cut-offs.
- Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Gulf ports: cargo relies on feeders, regional shuttles or overland trucking from the UAE and Oman. The via-Jeddah workaround is not open with every carrier.
- Time: plan for the sea leg plus anchorage waiting plus one to several days of trucking and gate queues, and treat the total as a range.
- Cost: expect war-risk or emergency surcharges, emergency fuel charges and contingency trucking. Emirates Line, for example, announced USD 1,250 per container from Khor Fakkan to Jebel Ali in April 2026; other carriers charge differently.
- Insurance: check that your cargo cover includes war risk for the voyage.
Confirm these five points in writing before the cargo leaves origin:
- The discharge or loading port, and the final destination on the bill of lading.
- Who arranges and pays for the onward truck, and the exact surcharge with its validity date.
- When free time starts and where the empty container is returned.
- Whether your insurance covers war risk.
- That the commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin are final before arrival.
In your Nil Ocean case file, a diversion is recorded as an exception with its reason, every ETA change is kept in the history, and any new charge needs your approval before it is billed. For the full background, read our guide Strait of Hormuz disruption: how Dubai-bound cargo moves and check the lane status board.
Official sources
- Freightos — Strait of Hormuz shipping impact: what you need to know(opens in a new tab)
- straits.live — Strait of Hormuz transit tracker(opens in a new tab)
- Al Tamimi & Company — UAE bonded trucking to Jebel Ali via Khorfakkan and Fujairah (Dubai Customs Notice 03/2026)(opens in a new tab)
- Xeneta — Strait of Hormuz shutdown: port congestion and schedule chaos (March 2026)(opens in a new tab)
- Nautica Post — Fujairah and Khor Fakkan congestion (14 August 2026)(opens in a new tab)
- The National — UAE–Oman trade corridors vital as Hormuz remains closed (22 May 2026)(opens in a new tab)
- Iraq Business News — Gulftainer launches UAE–Umm Qasr feeder service (2 July 2026)(opens in a new tab)
Advisories summarise official sources and our operational experience. They are not legal advice; regulations can change at short notice.
