E-Paper
Sign In
Strait of Hormuz disruption: Half a million containers stranded at Gulf ports
As per PwC figures, container traffic activity has been severely affected since February 28, falling over 93 per cent, due to the closure of Strait of Hormuz
- PUBLISHED: Thu 23 Apr 2026, 4:10 PM
An estimated 0.5 million TEUs, approximately 500,000 twenty-foot container ships, sit at sea or dry ports situated in the Gulf due to the ongoing Strait of Hormuz disruption, according to PwC.
TEU, which stands for Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, is a standard unit of measurement for cargo. PwC estimates that half a million TEUs remain stranded, while a further 1-1.5 million TEUs of transshipment volume have been affected due to a decline in activity at key ports like Jebel Ali and Khalifa Port. At the same time, contingency plans have been activated for ensuring flow of gateway traffic through alternatives.
Recommended For You
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels
Container traffic activity has been severely affected since February 28, falling over 93 per cent, as per PwC figures.
LNG harder to reroute
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has also been more severe due to the nature of liquified natural gas storage, making it more difficult to reroute or replace, the consultancy said.
“What makes this situation different is the type of cargo involved,” Dominik Baumeister, a senior partner and global transport and logistics lead at PwC Middle East, said in a report.
The Strait is a narrow waterway which sees over 20 per cent of the world’s oil and LNG outputs pass through, making it one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints.
The consultant said that due to the Strait’s vital nature, disruption to energy exports has been more severe than previous trade and logistics shocks.
He compared this with the Bab el-Mandeb disruption, known as the Red Sea Shipping Crisis, when Houthi members targeted commercial vessels starting in late 2023 in response to Israeli aggression in Gaza.
“Container traffic could still be rerouted, even though it involved longer transit times, higher costs and greater operational complexity. Compared to that, the Strait of Hormuz disruption could limit gateway access itself, forcing a deeper reliance on inland logistics and multimodal workarounds,” Baumeister proclaimed.
“Some oil volumes can still be redirected through pipelines or alternative routes in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman, even if at higher cost. But liquefied natural gas is far less flexible,” he said.
LNG is usually stored below -160°C, and so requires specialised cryogenic equipment, dedicated tankers, and import terminals for safe storage, Baumeister explained. This makes it harder to replace or reroute lost flows, and thus makes the supply shock deeper, leading to a more gradual recovery.
Essentially, LNG and other non-energy commodities, like nitrogen-based fertilisers could go through two layers of disruption. “The first is an immediate supply shock affecting critical commodities, from LNG and ammonia to sulphur and aluminium,” the PwC consultant said.
“The second is a replacement shock: buyers rush to secure alternative supplies, increasing competition, raising input costs and ultimately passing those costs on to consumers.”
Analysts earlier told Khaleej Times that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have a limited ability to meaningfully redirect crude oil and refined products. Sergey Pigarev, a senior equity analyst of Capital Markets Research at Freedom Finance Global, said that prior to the war, the two Gulf nations exported around 9.5 million barrels of these products alone per day.
They currently stand at 5.5 million barrels per day to reroute crude exports due to the severe disruption.
600 million oil barrels disrupted
The UAE Minister of Energy and Advanced Infrastructure Sultan Al Jaber has repeatedly pressed Tehran to open the crucial waterway.
Al Jaber, who is also CEO of Adnoc, more recently called out Iran’s actions as extortion and must not be used for threats. In an X post published on Sunday, he said nearly 600 million barrels of oil have been disrupted after more than 50 days of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.
“50 days of escalating pressure on liquefied natural gas, jet fuel, fertilizers, and the essential materials the world relies on. Every missing barrel raises bills for ordinary people everywhere. The global economy cannot withstand more uncertainty,” he wrote.
Hind Aldah is a business reporter based in Sharjah. In her spare time, you will find her playing classical guitar, painting amateur oil paintings, or crocheting the same old scarf that leads nowhere.