Middle East Security Situation: Immediate impact on the global transportation and logistics industry

The situation remains extremely fluid, and while retaliatory strikes by Iran are for now isolated to the Middle East, the impact from a transportation perspective is widespread and profound.

On the airfreight side, flights and airports in the Middle East have grinded to a halt with all airlines suspending flights to and from the region with immediate effect.

On ocean freight, any hopes of a Red Sea return have for now been cancelled. Furthermore, all ocean carriers have informed of a full suspension of all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

While the situation is still developing, we can already now advise of significant delays ahead for both shipments already in transit and for upcoming shipments to and from the Middle East. It is also likely that there will be delays on the Asia-Europe trade lane as a result of this, and we will do our utmost to provide timely delay updates and any available alternative routings.

Immediate war-risk surcharges have already been imposed by several ocean carriers, and we overall expect rate levels and related surcharges to increase in the short term until the situation stabilises. 

Last, but not least, the safety of our colleagues on the ground in the Middle East is our main priority, and we are taking all precautions to ensure their safety. As we speak, we expect our daily operations and customer service teams will be able to service all our customers with contingency plans in place and rolled out.

Deep dive on the expected impact on airfreight, ocean freight and road freight flows

Airfreight

Regional airspace restrictions and airline network suspensions have already created major shipment backlogs. We expect this backlog to build further in the coming days, with many airlines having imposed a full booking stop until further notice. Consequently, we also expect that backlogs will take weeks to clear once the airspace reopens.

• Emirates SkyCargo: Flights are suspended for now until 15:00 UAE time on Monday, 2 March 2026, due to evolving airspace restrictions. Emirates is also placing temporary restrictions on booking and acceptance of all new shipments for the next 24 hours to stabilise operations and comply with regulatory directives. Recovery and rebooking for impacted shipments are underway.
• KLM: Not operating flights to Dubai, Riyadh, and Dammam through 5 March (and avoiding multiple regional airspaces).
• Turkish Airlines: Cancellations have been announced across multiple Middle East destinations, with some cancellations in place until 2 March and additional changes possible depending on airspace decisions.

Ocean freight

All major carriers have already announced a full stop to passage through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and thus the Suez Canal, and as well a full stop on passage through the Strait of Hormuz. 

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. It is also one of the most important oil chokepoints in the world, representing roughly a fifth of globally traded oil. It is consequently likely that we will also see a sharp and abrupt increase in oil prices, in addition to the impact on global container shipping.

• Jebel Ali (DP World): DP World has temporarily suspended operations across Jebel Ali terminals as a precautionary measure following an incident linked to intercepted aerial threats, with a reported fire within the port. Expect vessel delays, yard congestion, and recovery disruption even after reopening.
• MSC: Suspension of all bookings for worldwide cargo to the Middle East until further notice.
• Maersk: Suspension of all vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice, with knock-on delays and schedule adjustments for Arabian Gulf calls.
• CMA CGM: Instructed all vessels in and outbound for the Gulf to proceed to shelter and consequently suspending Suez Canal passage. 

Road freight 

• Border crossings are functioning, but security-related delays at checkpoints are likely to occur.
• For UAE–Oman movements, the newly opened Al Rawdah crossing (Al Buraimi) provides an additional corridor connecting to Al Madam (Sharjah). This may help relieve congestion at other border points, subject to security controls and border processing.

What you should do now

• Confirm new bookings before dispatch through your dedicated SGL contact person
•  Add buffer time for all upcoming shipments to and from the Middle East 

For time-critical shipments, we are on standby to assess potential alternative routings and solutions, and we urge you to contact us immediately to discuss available options.

For shipments in transit, we are working on a full overview of impacted shipments, and a delay notice will follow within the coming days from our customer service teams.
We will continue to provide regular updates as the situation evolves and will do all we can to keep service and cost disruptions to a minimum.