Gulf Shipping Workarounds Are Straining as Hormuz Talks Continue

President Trump said on 26 September that he had rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal would reopen the strait within seven days in exchange for US concessions including lifting the naval blockade and easing restrictions on Iranian oil. Qatar-mediated contacts have continued since the rejection, but the two sides still disagree over the terms of any deal.

For anyone with Gulf-bound containers in Q4, that leaves the route open to change in both directions. While normal container routing through the strait remains heavily disrupted, Gulf cargo moves on multi-leg workarounds whose ports are slowing. If a deal lands, the same cargo may be rerouted again at short notice. In both cases the port on the booking is a weak planning anchor, and delivery dates have to be rebuilt from where each container actually is.

Where the Talks Stand

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly last week that Iran would not allow freedom of navigation through the strait while sanctions and the US naval blockade remain in place. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi subsequently said Iran remained open to diplomacy despite Trump’s rejection of its proposal.

What happens next is less clear. Trump told Axios on 27 September that he expected more talks that week, and Axios reported the following day that Qatari and Pakistani mediators were continuing indirect contacts over a possible compromise. Iran’s state news agency IRNA, however, said the Iranian delegation had no further negotiations with the US scheduled in New York and that its position had already been conveyed through Qatar.

The terms are also contested. Axios reported, citing US officials, that Washington was prepared to discuss sanctions relief and frozen Iranian funds in return for nuclear concessions. Trump later denied that he had offered those concessions. Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that Trump had told aides he expected a renewed bombing campaign after the November midterm elections. None of that provides a reliable reopening date for container routing through Hormuz.

Three Workaround Ports, All Under Pressure

Maersk’s current Gulf routing, set out in its Middle East Operational Update 49 of 23 September, sends UAE and Upper Gulf cargo through a small set of workaround gateways. Three of them are in the key-port set of the latest Tradlinx Port Congestion Index, and all three were under pressure in the two weeks to 20 September.

Port	Role in Maersk’s Gulf routing	Band	Berthing delay: 1 month / 2 weeks / 1 week / 3 days (h)	Vessels waiting
Salalah	Transshipment hub for Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE cargo; designated empty-return depot	BUSY → CONGESTED	27.2 / 30.8 / 37.0 / 48.8	2
Jebel Ali	Final gateway for selected Khor Fakkan bookings, discharged at Fujairah and trucked in under bond	BUSY	12.3 / 16.7 / 22.6 / 28.9	10
Jeddah	Gateway for Saudi cargo, including Riyadh and Dammam via landbridge; designated empty-return depot	CONGESTED	4.8 / 7.0 / 5.2 / 9.5	7

Berthing delay by moving window, Tradlinx Port Congestion Index, Sep 7–20, 2026 edition. Short-window readings rest on a small number of vessel calls, so the direction matters more than the exact figure. Routing roles per Maersk Middle East Operational Update 49.

Salalah moved from BUSY to CONGESTED, up 10.6 hours to 30.8 on the two-week average, and each shorter window reads higher than the one before it. Maersk is also not accepting Flex Hub or sales-on-water requests for Salalah until further notice.

Jebel Ali stayed BUSY, but its two-week delay rose 9.9 hours to 16.7, with the last three days at 28.9 hours. That delay sits at the end of a trucking leg for cargo Maersk has moved off Khor Fakkan.

Jeddah ranks second on the index’s composite congestion score at 92.1, on a berthing delay of 7.0 hours. Saudi import and export cargo continues to move through it.

The east-coast UAE gateways sit outside the index’s key-port set. The most recent public reporting points the same way: by late August, Khor Fakkan, Fujairah and Sohar were reported to be at maximum capacity, with vessels waiting up to seven days or longer to berth, and RCL introduced a congestion surcharge on Khor Fakkan imports citing waits of more than seven days. A new three-times-weekly Etihad Rail service now links Fujairah with the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), which shippers can book as the destination and clearance point.

Delay Now Stacks Across Handovers

A rerouted Gulf container passes through several separate queues: berth and yard at the bypass port, a truck, rail or feeder leg, then release at the final port or depot. A slowdown at any one of them moves every date after it, and an ETA taken from the ocean schedule describes only the first leg.

Charges follow the same sequence. Under Maersk’s storage-in-transit option, the emergency freight rate generally covers the first 14 days after discharge, with storage charged from day 15. Jebel Ali is an important exception: cargo remaining under transshipment there, including cargo moving onward under a landbridge solution, is subject to a temporary $25 per TEU per day storage charge from the day of discharge, with reefer plug-in charges where applicable.

Empty returns also depend on location. Maersk designates Salalah and Jeddah as its main empty-return depots for affected imports, while limited acceptance remains available at several other Gulf locations under separate drop-off charges and conditions. We set out those rules in our breakdown of Maersk’s Gulf rerouting. Each leg can therefore carry its own queue and charge clock, so a Gulf delivery date needs checking at every handover.

If your team is rebuilding Gulf delivery dates each time a box changes port or leg, see how ops teams follow each handover of a rerouted container across carriers.

If a Deal Lands, Routes Change Again

Iran’s original offer describes a reopening within seven days if its conditions are met. Carrier arrangements already assume a resumption at some point: under Maersk’s storage-in-transit option, the onward voyage starts as soon as it is safe and practical to complete it.

The Suez return shows how a reopening can be staggered rather than network-wide. Carriers moved Asia–Europe services back through the canal one at a time, and arrival dates diverged even within the same carrier’s network while Cape and Suez sailings overlapped. Hormuz could follow a similar pattern, leaving cargo already committed to a workaround leg, or held in storage in transit, subject to another routing change.

What to Re-check This Week

Current port of discharge. For every Gulf-bound container on the water, compare the current discharge port and final destination with the booking.
Salalah transshipments. Allow for Salalah’s rising delay when setting onward dates for Upper Gulf cargo, and don’t plan on a Flex Hub change there.
Dubai deliveries. Build delivery dates from the container’s arrival at Jebel Ali after the trucking leg, with Jebel Ali’s own delay added.
Storage clocks. Check the applicable storage rule for each location. Maersk’s general storage-in-transit clock starts charging after 14 days, but transshipment cargo at Jebel Ali is charged from the day of discharge.
Reopening scenario. Ask your carrier or forwarder how cargo already on a workaround leg would be handled if the strait reopens, and who pays for a second reroute.

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