CMA CGM Establishes New Overland Detours Around Hormuz

CMA CGM, the French container shipping company, is rolling out alternative multimodal services that blend sea, rail, and road transport in order to keep supply chains moving around the constrained Strait of Hormuz. The Marseilles-based operator explained that these arrangements put the safety of its crews and staff first, while also backing its customers' supply chains and safeguarding uninterrupted trade with the Middle East.

 

Iran has limited passage through the strait — the gateway into the Persian Gulf — since shortly after it was struck on February 28 by Israel and the United States. As a result, hundreds of vessels have become stranded, putting energy and other commodity supplies at risk and driving prices up worldwide. Although the strait measures roughly 20 miles across, ships can move through it only in single file along two channels, each about a mile wide. Tehran has permitted only Chinese, Indian, and Turkish vessels to pass, and a handful of ships are reported to have slipped through at night with their tracking systems switched off.

 

The company's response involves several alternative transport options and strategically chosen entry points for cargo bound for the Gulf. These connect the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan through the ports of Khor Fakkan and Fujairah in the UAE, Sohar in Oman, and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. From these gateways, CMA CGM operates logistics corridors that reach the UAE's principal hubs — Khalifa, Jebel Ali, and Sharjah — as well as other countries along the Arabian Gulf, using a combination of regional road and sea transport.

 

In all, six Gulf states are to be served by road and rail links originating at ports outside the strait. From Jeddah on the Red Sea, the carrier has set up road corridors — some paired with sea legs, others not — to move goods onward to Dammam in Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq. According to the company, this configuration also lets cargo reach the Mediterranean and Asia without ever passing through the strait. Ports in Oman provide a third significant alternative, handling regional and cross-border traffic to the UAE and the northern Gulf through a mix of road and feeder services.