This week, the shipping crisis in the Middle East has hardened into a structural supply chain disruption. The Strait of Hormuz is completely blocked for commercial shipping traffic as a result of the naval blockade, and shipping firms must find alternate means of transport through other ports that are highly congested and costly.
Weekly Ocean Freight Update – Week of May 1, 2026
This week, the shipping crisis in the Middle East has hardened into a structural supply chain disruption. The Strait of Hormuz is completely blocked for commercial shipping traffic as a result of the naval blockade, and shipping firms must find alternate means of transport through other ports that are highly congested and costly.
Hormuz Blockade & Alternative Hub Congestion
On its 12th day, the blockade has brought commercial traffic through the Strait down to zero. Faced with no apparent diplomatic solution in sight, the backlog of stranded cargo continues to increase. Several major alternative transshipment facilities are straining under the pressure. At the port of Sohar in Oman, the upper limit of its capacity has been breached, while vessel traffic through Jeddah, which lies on the shores of the Red Sea, is up significantly from pre-blockade numbers, now extending the average import dwell time to 16 to 18 days.
Carriers Pivot to Overland Corridors
To circumvent the port traffic and the blockage there, major shipping firms like MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, and Cosco are using other land transport routes to shift the cargo. The ships are unloading the cargo at the Jeddah port, which is then sent by means of roads within the region. However, the trucking capacity remains limited, and the cost of transporting the cargo via the other route has exceeded pre-war figures.
Booking Suspensions and Emergency Surcharges
The operational pressure has led to a series of major changes in its network. Maersk has put a halt on landside bookings between Jeddah and the Omani ports of Salalah and Sohar from the rest of the Gulf area. Maersk has introduced a particular rate known as Strait of Hormuz Emergency Freight and has imposed a daily cost of $25 per TEU storage charge for stranded transhipment cargo.
Freight Rates Update
The financial toll on shippers continues to mount as operators push compounding costs down the supply chain, sustaining massive rate inflation across major routes:
• Asia to Middle East: Spot rates remain at historic highs, hovering between $5,200 and $5,700 per TEU as carriers price in extreme risk premiums and complex overland diversions.
• Asia to North Europe: While regional volatility accelerates, broader global rates saw a slight 3% easing this week, bringing average spot rates to roughly $2,700 to $3,000 per FEU, though still massively elevated year-over-year.
• Asia to U.S. West Coast: Rates remain firm, averaging $3,000 to $3,300 per FEU, driven by the global absorption of vessel capacity around the Cape of Good Hope.
Short-Term Outlook
Over the coming months, supply chain is anticipated to remain sensitive to geopolitical developments. While alternative routing and network adjustments are helping maintain cargo flows, schedule reliability may weaken amidst ongoing uncertainty, Elevated bunker costs and insurance premiums are expected to keep freight rates supported, even if global demand softens moderately. Though absent any major escalation- such as a confirmed closure of critical chokepoints- global trade flows are likely to continue operating with manageable disruption rather than systemic breakdown.
