United Arab Emirates-headquartered DP World is planning to build a new port and container terminal on the country’s east coast, as the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appears to be crumbling and closing the Strait of Hormuz again.
The company is reportedly in discussions to develop a new port in the coastal area of Fujairah with a new terminal that would reduce Dubai’s dependence on the Port of Jebel Ali and bypass the Strait of Hormuz after the war. The new project would deepen DP World’s presence on the Gulf of Oman and allow containers to be moved on trucks overland to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other Gulf countries. Volumes at Jebel Ali have fallen between 90% and 95% after Iran closed the strait in response to attacks. DP World declined to confirm details of the east coast project but said that “there are plans in the works around diversification to get through this disruption.”
The news comes as Iran attacked a feeder container ship transiting the strait on Saturday, the first attack on container shipping since May 6. The 7,000-TEU GFS Galaxy was exiting the strait on a service linking Jebel Ali and Dammam.
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IAM Member Impact: IAM repeats its advice to members in the region to maintain contingency routings and quoted transit times.
Source: Financial Times FreightWaves
Member Contributions: Move One