The Strait of Hormuz in October 2026: Where Cargo from China to the UAE Lands Now

TL;DR

• Still closed to container lines. Between 1 September and 4 October 2026 AIS data showed about 3.5 transits of Hormuz a day, against 85.5 a day in 2025, and only ten container ship transits in 34 days. Almost all of them were feeders linked to AD Ports.
• No reopening in sight. Iran says the strait will not reopen until its conditions are met, and the US rejected Iran’s latest plan. Attacks on tankers reached a seven-month high in the week to 8 October, including near Fujairah.
• The east coast is the gateway. China services land at Fujairah, Khor Fakkan and Sohar. Median ship waits in early October were about seven days at Fujairah, four and a half at Khor Fakkan and under one at Sohar.
• New links help. Khor Fakkan grew from about 8,000 to 65,000 TEU a week, and since September a container train runs from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi three times a week.
• Rates are at record levels. Drewry’s index for Shanghai to Jebel Ali reached USD 8,662 per 40-foot container on 8 October, and Xeneta had China to Khor Fakkan at USD 10,626 in September.

Seven months on: the state of the strait

The June memorandum between the US and Iran brought a short window: 513 ships crossed in the first 18 days. Traffic then fell from about 30 transits a day in late June to about six by mid-July, the memorandum’s 60-day window lapsed on 17 August, and Iran announced its own transit permits and tolls. On 26 September the US rejected Iran’s seven-day plan to reopen the strait, and on 4 October Iran’s negotiator said it “will not be opened” until seven conditions are met.

US escorts protect oil cargoes, not container ships. Lloyd’s List counted at least 13 attacks on tankers and gas carriers from 28 September, the highest weekly level in seven months. War-risk insurance runs at 2.5 to 7.5 percent of a ship’s hull value, against 0.1 to 0.2 percent before the war. For container lines that is reason enough to stay outside.

Jebel Ali shows the result: 51 container ship calls in September 2026 against 429 a year earlier. Its infrastructure is undamaged. DP World spends about USD 100 million a month to keep it ready and says it can be at full capacity within 48 hours of traffic returning. Drewry warns that the relay transhipment business that used Dubai as a hub may never fully come back, even after the strait reopens.

Which China services call where

COSCO lands cargo for Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali at Khor Fakkan or Fujairah and moves it on by bonded land bridge. Carriers do not publish reliable transit times for these loops, and Xeneta notes that the higher rates come with longer transits and worse schedule reliability. Ask for the vessel and the expected discharge date, not a standard transit.

Port waits, trucks and the new train

On the road, trucks have queued up to 12 hours at Khor Fakkan and Fujairah, against 27 minutes at Jebel Ali before the closure, and a DP World official put the overland route at four to five times the cost of sailing into Jebel Ali. Haulage rates out of Khor Fakkan are at historically high levels. Dubai Customs allowed bonded road transit from Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to Jebel Ali from March, and opened a green corridor from Omani ports via Hatta.

Two changes since September:

• Rail. Etihad Rail and AD Ports run a container train three times a week from Fujairah to the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi, about 200 km, where the cargo clears customs. It helps Abu Dhabi deliveries most.
• Dubai truck rules. From 1 October trucks are restricted on several Dubai roads; Emirates Road is exempt. Delivery windows inside the city are tighter.

Capacity keeps growing. Khor Fakkan went from about 8,000 to 65,000 TEU a week, and Gulftainer plans to spend USD 2 billion to reach 10 million TEU a year within 36 months. DP World agreed in principle a 50-year concession at Fujairah for a container terminal of 2.5 million TEU and a general cargo terminal at Dibba, with 24 to 30 months of construction.

Surcharges on China to UAE cargo

These are full-container charges. Consolidated cargo shares them across many shippers, so they show up as a higher rate per cubic metre rather than a separate line.

Rate indices in October

Both Xeneta figures are above the records of the Covid years.

Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain

Cargo for the upper Gulf goes around the closed strait in three ways. Maersk sends it via Salalah and Khor Fakkan, by land bridge to Sharjah and then on intra-Gulf feeders. COSCO trucks it in bond from Khor Fakkan or Fujairah to Abu Dhabi for a feeder. MSC trucks about 1,300 km from Jeddah to Dammam and is building feeders to Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait.

Road freight carries much of the load. Saudi land ports sent 88,109 trucks to other GCC states in the first 25 days of March, 11,227 of them through Salwa to Qatar and 10,437 through Al-Khafji to Kuwait. Since 26 March Saudi Arabia admits GCC trucks up to 22 years old and gives GCC cargo 60 days of free storage at Dammam. Qatar’s Hamad Port had 17 container ship calls in September 2026, against 65 a year earlier.

What to do this quarter

1. Plan for the east coast as normal, not as a temporary detour. Order dates and stock levels should assume six to seven weeks door to door by sea.
2. Ask where the cargo will be discharged. Sohar has the shortest waits but adds a border; Fujairah has the most services and the longest queues.
3. For Abu Dhabi deliveries, ask whether the Fujairah train is an option.
4. Order seasonal stock early. Chinese New Year and Ramadan both fall in early February 2027; see our shipping calendar.
5. Use air for urgent top-ups. Gulf air capacity is close to normal again; see our air freight guide.

How Cargix handles UAE sea cargo now

Our consolidated sea service already runs through the east coast: the cargo leaves our warehouse in Foshan weekly, lands on the Gulf of Oman side and is trucked to the door with duty and VAT included in the quote. The background to customs and paperwork is in our guides to shipping from China to the UAE and UAE customs clearance, and the calculator gives an indicative all-in price for your weight and volume.