Middle Easts biggest shipping hub at risk amid Hormuz blockade

Jebel Ali, the largest shipping hub in the Middle East, has come under its most serious strain in decades amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported.

According to the British newspaper, in the early weeks of the conflict around Iran, shipping through the port that has driven Dubai’s transformation into one of the world’s great commercial hubs declined more than 90%.

Volumes plunged as 17 vessels a day on the average transited in the week to August 28, compared to 135 a day before the U.S. launched the war on Iran, the FT wrote.

The port and free-trade zone alone is responsible for more than a fifth of the emirate’s GDP. Last year, Jebel Ali accounted for 30% of the revenues of state-owned DP World, the newspaper added.

The UAE is looking for alternatives beyond the Hormuz Strait. DP World is planning to build two port terminals in Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman coast. However, experts doubt those could replicate the system built around Jebel Ali as its advantage includes not only port capacity but also the network of businesses and transport links, the newspaper argued.