Paris – The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the tensions in the Red Sea, are reshaping the logistical routes of goods trade, with Africa emerging as a pivotal point in the global container traffic, according to logistic and maritime sources.
Locally, in the past two months, the blockade of Hormuz has led shipowners to find alternative land corridors to deliver goods and manufactured products by truck, which can no longer reach the Gulf countries by sea.
– What are the alternative routes for delivering goods to the Gulf countries?
The Saudi port of Jeddah on the Red Sea is becoming a new regional hub, where ships from sea giants like MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, or Cosco arrive through the Suez Canal. The cargoes then depart by truck on a desert highway to deliver to Emirates like Sharjah, Bahrain, or Kuwait, which have not been served by sea for two months.
But “the port of Jeddah is not at all sized to handle all these import volumes, and a congestion phenomenon is emerging,” said Arthur Barillas de Theo, co-founder of OVRsea, a transport commission agent, a kind of travel agency for goods.
According to data from Kpler Marine Traffic, eleven container ships were at the dock in Jeddah on Wednesday, with nine waiting, with an average wait of a day and a half before unloading, instead of 17 hours the previous week.
– What are the other alternative routes for delivering goods to the Gulf countries?
Shipowners have announced the use of an Omani port, Sohar, and two Emirati ports, Khor Fakkan and Fujairah, located outside the Strait of Hormuz and connected by land to other cities in the United Arab Emirates.
The port of Aqaba in Jordan serves as a base for sending goods to Baghdad or Basra in Iraq. And a Turkish corridor also allows goods to be transported to northern Iraq.
– Why do Asia-Europe container ships avoid the Suez Canal on international routes?
This began well before the war in Iran. But it is indeed linked to Iran.
The avoidance of the Red Sea, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Suez Canal dates back to November 19, 2023, during the first attack by the Houthi militia, an ally of Iran, from the Yemeni coast against a container ship, as recalled by the specialized review CyclOpe.
Rerouting of vessels is now systematic since the resumption of Houthi attacks, notes Ronan Boudet, container market analyst at Kpler.
They circumnavigate Africa along its eastern coast to the Cape of Good Hope, south of South Africa, before heading north to Europe and the Mediterranean.
“With the current situation in the Gulf, we have put several pieces back into the machine, it will not improve anytime soon,” pointed out Edouard Louis-Dreyfus, president of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, to AFP.
“Today, 70% of the goods flows that passed through the Red Sea in 2023 have been diverted via the Cape of Good Hope,” specified Yves Guillo, an expert on supply chains at the Efeso firm.
According to data from the International Monetary Fund’s Portwatch platform, based on ships’ GPS signals, container ship passages at the Cape of Good Hope have more than tripled in three years, while those through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal have decreased by over half.
Between March 1 and April 24, 2026, an average of twenty container ships passed through the Cape of Good Hope each day, compared to six during the same period in 2023.
In comparison, container ship navigation in the Red Sea has decreased: from 18 passes per day through Bab-el-Mandeb between March and April 2023, the average has dropped to 5 three years later.
– What are the consequences?
Transport times between Asia and Europe have increased by an average of two weeks, costs have risen because it requires 30% to 50% more fuel, and 10% to 20% more additional ships to ensure regular passage frequencies, detailed Mr. Guillo.
The average price for transporting a standard 40-foot container on major maritime routes increased by 14% in April 2026 compared to April 2025, according to Guillo, citing the Drewry freight rate index, with significant disparities across lines.
Some African ports have seen increased activity. The port of Tanger Med handled 11 million standard containers in 2025 (+8.4%), according to its website.
However, Egypt has lost revenue from Suez Canal tolls, which made up a significant portion of its income. According to CyclOpe, in 2024, the country lost $7 billion in revenue, a decrease of over 60% compared to 2023. (Context: Due to geopolitical tensions and blockades in key waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, the logistics and traffic of goods have shifted, impacting global trade routes. Fact Check: The closure of the Suez Canal or disruption in the Red Sea can have significant effects on supply chains and shipping costs worldwide.)
