I find myself checking Middle East news first thing every morning these days. As the Iran-Israel conflict keeps pulling the US deeper in, the forwarding industry jokes—half-serious, half-joking—"Not Hormuz again?"

Honestly, I used to brush off Hormuz headlines with "it'll blow over soon." But after living through several ship seizures and drone attacks in real time since 2024, my clients now call me first. "Will our shipment be okay this time?"

Today I want to walk you through how I answer that question, and what route, cost, and insurance issues actually blow up in the field.

Why the Strait of Hormuz Matters So Much

Let's start with the numbers. The Strait of Hormuz is only about 33 km wide at its narrowest point. Yet roughly 20% of the world's seaborne crude oil and over 20% of LNG pass through this narrow waterway (based on US EIA disclosures 2023–2024).

The problem is it's not just a tanker corridor. Container ships heading to UAE's Jebel Ali, Oman's Sohar, or Saudi Dammam all have to transit this strait.

"Isn't it just an oil issue?" people ask me a lot. But Jebel Ali is the hub for Middle East and Africa transshipment. If it closes, Korean cargo bound for the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and East Africa gets backed up in a chain reaction.

Evening view of a Middle Eastern container terminal, with cranes and stacked containers When a Middle East hub port like Jebel Ali gets blocked, cargo from neighboring countries gets delayed in a domino effect.

What Actually Changes on the Ground If It Gets Blocked

Let me list the changes I felt in April 2024 when Iran seized the MSC Aries, using my Busan–Jebel Ali direct FCL route as the benchmark.

Freight rates: Busan–Jebel Ali 40ft jumped from roughly $2,100 to $2,900 in about a week. There was significant variance by carrier.
War Risk Surcharge: Retroactive notices came through at $30–50 per TEU on existing shipments.
Insurance premiums: War Clause rates on cargo insurance jumped 3–5x from peacetime levels. Some insurers refused to underwrite.
Schedule: When T/S (transshipment) routing changed, lead times added 5–10 days.

Looking at the numbers alone, you might think "that's manageable." But here's the catch: when these charges apply retroactively to already-shipped cargo, things get messy. If the surcharge notice comes after the BL is issued, disputes over who pays—shipper or consignee—blow up immediately.

Case Study — Mid-Size Chemical Company A, Summer 2024

Let me walk through one case I handled last year. A mid-sized Korean chemical company, A Corp, shipping dangerous goods (IMO Class 3) in three 40ft containers to Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Shipment completed mid-June. But right after departure, Middle East tensions escalated sharply, and the carrier rerouted via Salalah, Oman for transshipment. We waited for the feeder vessel in Salalah for 18 days. The original plan was 5 days.

Forwarding operations team members checking ship tracking screens together When the situation changes, the ops team monitors ship positions and alternative routes in real time.

The result:

Local arrival delayed by roughly 2 weeks → consignee's factory line shutdown compensation claim
Dangerous goods meant demurrage at ~1.5x the rate of general cargo
War Risk Surcharge of roughly $45 per container added on

When A Corp's manager called and said, "If you'd just given us a heads-up, we'd have checked other carriers…" honestly, I had no answer. After that incident, our team now shares a twice-weekly geopolitical briefing with Middle East customers.

Are There Alternatives to Hormuz?

Bottom line: there's no complete substitute. But there are three workaround options depending on the situation.

Route	Pros	Cons
Saudi west coast (Jeddah) → overland truck	Complete Hormuz bypass	Lead time +10–15 days, overland cost $100s per TEU
Turkey Istanbul → Iraq/Iran overland	Access to northern Iran, CIS	Customs risk, political sensitivity
Pakistan Karachi → Afghanistan/CIS	South Asia transshipment	Local infrastructure limitations

As you can see from the table, every option has downsides. So the real challenge for us practitioners isn't "avoid Hormuz completely"—it's "how do we spread the risk?"

flowchart LR
  A[Busan Port Departure] --> B{Hormuz Normal?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Jebel Ali Direct Call]
  B -->|No| D[Salalah/Jeddah Transshipment]
  D --> E[Overland/Feeder Reshipment]
  C --> F[Final Destination]
  E --> F

Insurance — This One You Have to Get Right

The most frustrating case I see in the field is cargo insurance taken out without War Clauses. People often skip it in peacetime to save on premiums, but in a region like Hormuz, without it you get almost no compensation.

Three checkpoints to remember:

Institute War Clauses (Cargo) included or not
Strikes Clauses included (covers riots, strikes)
7-day rule — War Clauses typically cover only within a certain period after shipment. Extended transshipment delays can cause coverage to lapse

A practitioner's hands reviewing cargo insurance policy documents on a desk One line difference in war clause wording can completely change compensation in a loss.

Especially that third point—if transshipment runs long, you can end up with an uninsured gap. I always tell customers: "Before shipment, confirm with your insurer whether a Held Covered Clause is available."

Three Things Practitioners Should Check Right Now

Here's the summary:

Dual-source carriers and routes — For Middle East shipments, get quotes from at least 2 carriers in parallel. If one changes routing, you have a backup.
Reconfirm INCOTERMS — Under CIF/DAP, clarify in your contract who bears the freight rate increase. Ambiguity = disputes.
Cargo insurance with War Clauses — Saving a few dollars on premiums isn't worth losing a container.

If you're thinking "we have a lot of Middle East volume—can you take a look at whether our current routing is okay?" reach out to the LIAN GLOBAL LOGIS team. It's not fancy consulting; we'll take your current and pending shipments by BL and give you a one-page route risk simulation. Just from that, you'll know "we need to strengthen insurance on this one" or "we should switch carriers on that one."

I can't predict Middle East politics any better than you can. But there are definitely things we can prepare for in the field, and that preparation protects your delivery schedules and costs. I hope this piece helps anyone handling Middle East shipments.