EVERY crisis has an opportunity, with Hormuz blocked by Iran, Pakistani ports, especially Gwadar, provide an alternate as transshipment ports for containerized traffic, provided we act early.

Global shipping has come to a halt, approximately 110 to 130 merchant vessels of all types (tankers, bulkers and containers) (21 million barrels of oil) used to transit through Hormuz daily are at anchor. Major carriers such as Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM have canceled transits and more than 300 vessels with a capacity of 450,000 TEUs are trapped or anchored as the ports of the Gulf such as Jebel Ali grind. The high insurance rates, lack of GPS signals, have also put strains on global supply chains never seen before, with reroutes around the Cape of Good Hope being rerouted and massive backlogs being experienced in Europe and Asia.

The Hormuz crisis of 2026 offers Pakistan a breakthrough in the sea that will take a century. Gwadar and Karachi, being outside the conflict zone, provide safe and direct a substitute of storage and transshipment on the open Arabian Sea. With the help of lowering the port charges, Pakistan will be able to attract the vessels who are desperate enough to evade the crippling financial losses of idle charter costs and the soaring bottleneck costs. Unloading at these hubs enables ship owners to avoid........

© Pakistan Observer