How Gulf Cargo is Moving Around the Strait of Hormuz Closure in 2026 - News and Statistics

May 12, 2026

Logistics operators are adapting to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz by finding new ways to move cargo to and from Gulf destinations whose ports are now effectively cut off. According to a report from The Maritime Executive, private entrepreneurs rather than extensive state intervention are opening new routes and expanding capacity on existing ones.

One route seeing immediate gains is Saudi Arabia’s Route 95, which begins near the Saudi town of Alkwifiriah at the Salwa border crossing with Qatar. The highway crosses the Shaybah oilfield and enters Oman at the Ramlet Khelah border crossing, a point that opened in January 2023. The route’s development had been planned for a long time; delays were caused not by the COVID-19 pandemic but by engineering challenges of building through the shifting sands of the Empty Quarter. The new road has reduced travel time between the start and end points by 16 hours, bypassing an older sand road and eliminating detours through the UAE with customs delays.

Data from the Oman Public Authority for Special Economic and Free Zones shows the value of goods crossing the Ramlet Khelah border nearly tripled to $830 million in March, up from $300 million in February. Key cargo categories moving through the crossing include fertilizers, construction materials, food, medicines, and machinery. One trucking firm, Ramool Transportation, told AGBI that its earnings in March 2026 surpassed its total revenue for all of 2025.

In 2021, Oman and Saudi Arabia agreed to establish a joint economic zone twelve miles inside Oman to capitalize on the new route. The Special Economic Zone at Al Dhahirah (EZAD) is set to open next year, with a land port run by Omani logistics company Asyad. The zone’s focus will be on manufacturing facilities rather than logistics.

Saudi Arabian Railways is launching five new freight corridors connecting the west and east coasts, based on a pre-war plan to shift freight from roads to rail. The company is now prioritizing better access from rail hubs at Dammam, Jubail, Ras Al Khair, Al Kharj, and Hail to Red Sea ports. Saudi Arabia also needs to expand capacity on the Northern International Highway Route 85, which runs from Dammam through Riyadh and along the northern border to Al Hadithah on the Jordanian frontier. With the Syrian civil war largely over, this route can now be used more easily to reach Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean. Once considered dangerous, the highway is now a continuous dual carriageway built to modern standards.

Shipping companies are introducing combined sea-and-land services. MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is launching a service from Antwerp in May 2026, shipping containers to Jeddah and King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea, then transferring them by truck to Dammam on the east coast, and using feeder vessels to move freight onward to Jebel Ali, Khalifa Industrial Zone, and other Gulf ports. Hapag-Lloyd is also launching overland options via Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The main obstacle to developing new logistics routes has been a shortage of trucks and drivers, a challenge likely to be resolved quickly as higher revenues attract more participants. Another significant issue is the throughput capacity of ports now being integrated into new logistics networks. Both Khor Fakkan and Fujairah have limited capacity; Khor Fakkan has never handled more than three million TEUs, compared to Jebel Ali’s 25 million TEUs. Sohar and Salalah are efficient ports—Salalah was ranked the second most efficient container port in the world in 2023—but both face capacity constraints that will take much longer to address than the shortage of trucks and drivers.

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