The world’s largest container shipping company is trying to bypass the blocked Strait of Hormuz: MSC is planning a new service linking Europe with isolated ports in the Middle East, using trucks in Saudi Arabia and smaller vessels in the Persian Gulf, Bloomberg reported.
According to a post published by the company Thursday, the first sailing will depart Antwerp on May 10 and include stops in Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Spain. The ships will cross the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and stop at two ports on Saudi Arabia’s western coast — Jeddah and King Abdullah Port.
From there, trucks will be used to reach the city of Dammam on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, where smaller feeder ships will transfer the goods to regional ports, including Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali in Dubai. Both cities have large industrial zones with hundreds of international companies that had relied on cargo arriving through Hormuz. The distance between Jeddah and Dammam, a route that passes through the capital Riyadh, is about 1,300 kilometers.
Iran has almost completely blocked the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israeli combined attack in late February. Traffic has not resumed even after the ceasefire. As a result, shipping companies have been forced to find longer and more expensive alternatives.
In March, German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd — which purchased Israel’s ZIM — said it would operate land transport routes in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Denmark’s Maersk also announced land-based solutions for cargo in the region.