The crisis at sea in the Middle East has moved to an extremely volatile new stage this week. The period from July 10 to July 14 saw the last of hopes for a summer truce completely dashed.
Weekly Ocean Freight Update – July 10 to July 14, 2026
The crisis at sea in the Middle East has moved to an extremely volatile new stage this week. The period from July 10 to July 14 saw the last of hopes for a summer truce completely dashed, resulting in huge disturbances to marine freight traffic.
Strait of Hormuz Blockade Resumes
The fragile truce agreement in the Persian Gulf has been totally undermined due to military confrontations that have taken place between the nations involved. As of July 13, the United States has imposed an official blockade at sea, aimed at ships from Iran and its business associates. The American government also suggested that a 20 percent charge be imposed on all shipping traffic passing through the important straits.
Consequently, commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has plummeted to its lowest level in several weeks. Fearing interception or crossfire, most commercial vessels have halted transits, leaving approximately 6,000 seafarers stranded aboard hundreds of idling vessels in the region. International maritime authorities have strongly advised that all transit through the Strait be avoided until safety conditions improve, further paralyzing Gulf logistics.
Cautious Returns to the Red Sea
Even as the conflict becomes more and more violent in the Persian Gulf, there are still some operations that move to the Red Sea individually. The first one was on July 13 when Maersk stated that it is going to start sailing again via the Suez Canal for its WAF6 route linking the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and West Africa. This was due to the fact that Maersk has decided to slowly restore some services in the area. Nevertheless, this move is very limited as most other shipping companies use the extended route via Cape of Good Hope.
Surging Rates and Surcharges
The prolonged geopolitical instability continues to inflate global ocean freight rates. The capacity absorbed by the African detours, coupled with an intense summer volume surge, has pushed rates to staggering highs.
• Transpacific: Spot rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast have skyrocketed, crossing the 200% increase mark compared to 2025 levels.
• Asia-Europe: Rate levels are up by more than 60% year-over-year.
• Surcharges & Capacity: In order to address the issue of capacity constraints, the ocean carriers have resorted to charging very high peak season surcharges on both Asia-Europe and transpacific trades. In addition, most carriers are also reducing their weekly allowances for the sake of maximizing profits.
Short-Term Outlook
The operating environment is especially restrictive for supply chain management in the Middle East. The renewed Hormuz strait blockade assures continued volatility and impassability for normal commercial vessels in the short run. The shipping industry should prepare for tight capacity, rising cost of war risk insurance coverages, and long delays for all cargoes destined for passage through the Persian Gulf or Red Sea region.
