According to ShippingWatch, the Danish container shipping group has hired around 1,200 trucks and trains to move containers through new corridors across the Arabian Peninsula. The operation is designed to keep cargo flowing to Gulf markets while avoiding maritime areas affected by security risks, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandab.
At the start of the crisis, around 47,000 Maersk containers were reportedly en route to the Middle East. More than 39,000 have already been delivered, while about 5,000 are awaiting the final overland leg to end customers and another 3,000 have not yet reached the region.
Maersk is now moving about 2,000 containers a week along a 1,200-kilometre overland route to eastern Saudi Arabia, according to the report. A further 3,000 containers a week are being routed through Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
The company has acknowledged that the alternative corridors are more expensive and slower than conventional maritime routing. However, the delays are measured in days rather than weeks, allowing customers to keep supply chains moving despite disruptions to normal Gulf shipping patterns.
Maersk has previously said it was securing trucking capacity from ports outside the Gulf, with Jeddah used as a key gateway for European cargo. From there, containers can be moved across the desert to their final destinations.
Bookings still depend on route and cargo type
The latest scale-up comes as Maersk continues to adjust its Middle East operations. In its 25 May operational update, the carrier said it was continuing to expand multimodal transport solutions across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Iraq.
Available landside options include export landbridge movements from Dammam, Jubail, Bahrain and Kuwait via Jeddah Port, and from Iraq via Aqaba Port. For imports, Maersk lists routes from Jeddah to Riyadh and Dammam, from UAE ports including Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi to inland UAE destinations, from Salalah to inland Oman, from Khor Fakkan to Qatar for reefer cargo, and from Aqaba to Iraq.
However, access remains uneven. Maersk says some landside bookings are temporarily paused, including certain cargo movements from the UAE and Qatar via Jeddah and Oman ports, from Jeddah to the UAE, Oman and Qatar, and from Salalah and Sohar to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.
The carrier has also maintained restrictions on several ocean bookings to and from Gulf markets, with exceptions depending on destination, port and cargo type. Shipments containing food, medicine and other perishable goods are being given special attention where possible.
Higher costs replace longer delays
The disruption has also brought additional charges. Maersk introduced an Emergency Freight increase in March for cargo to and from the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia’s Dammam and Jubail, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman’s Sohar, citing the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the need for alternative routing, storage in transit and additional transport arrangements.
The surcharge is USD 1,800 for a 20ft dry container, USD 3,000 for a 40ft or 45ft dry container, and USD 3,800 for reefer, special, out-of-gauge and dangerous goods containers.
