‘Maximum disruption’ in Strait of Hormuz as 16 vessels are hit during US-Israel war on Iran
There is potential for “maximum disruption” to logistics flows in the Strait of Hormuz and nearby ports as a total of 16 vessels have been attacked during the ongoing conflict between the US and Israel with Iran, according to analysts.
Vessel movements in the Strait of Hormuz on 13 March 2026
Source: VesselFinder
Since 1
March, a total of 16 vessels have been hit while passing through the Strait of Hormuz and at
anchorage following coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, threatening global automotive supply chains. In a Lloyd’s List Intelligence briefing today, its
analysts said “maximum disruption” is expected in the region, with anchorages
becoming “increasingly dangerous” places. Despite the daily attacks, Middle Eastern
ports have displayed resilience in continuing supply chain flows.
Which ports have suspended operations due to the attacks in the Strait of Hormuz?
- Oman: Operations at Salalah port have been suspended after an attack on vessels on 11 March.
- Bahrain: APM Terminals in Bahrain have confirmed operations at Khalifa Bin Salman Port are suspended from 12-13 March on government advice.
- Qatar: Hamad and Doha are operating normally, but Al Ruwais is restricted to smaller vessels while Al Shaheen Terminal and Halul Island Terminal operations are suspended.
- UAE: In the UAE, there are warnings of jamming at Khor Fakkan and Fujairah.
- At the time of publishing, operations at the major ports in Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Israel are continuing operations as normal.
The
implications could be devastating to automotive supply chains, with days of
delays having the potential to cause weeks of disruption to automotive
logistics and deliveries of vehicles.
“Traffic is
still moving, it’s not much, but it’s not a full closure,” said Bridget Diakun,
senior risk and compliance analyst, Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Since the
beginning of March, 77 vessels have transited the strait, compared to 1,229
vessels in the same period last year. “Broadly speaking, it’s bulk carriers,
tankers and container ships that are passing through,” she said.
Due to this
reduction in flows, a lot of container vessels are rerouting to avoid the
disruption. Neil Dekker, senior analyst, Infospectrum said: “There's going to
be a lot of port congestion happening now and further down the line. There is
already port congestion in Singapore, Colombo [Sri Lanka], Mundra [India],
where services that are in situ when the conflict first began cargo might be
being offloaded there.”
For
container shipping, more than 100 ships have been trapped while Gulf bookings
are suspended. Cape diversions are pushing transit times to up to 49 days, with
cargo being diverted instead to Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Sohar, Salalah, Jeddah
and King Abdullah ports. There has also been a rapid rollout of landbridge
corridors across Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman.
“So, on top
of normal global services, you've all of a sudden got any number of carriers
and services saying to the ports, ‘we need to put our service in here, can we
have a berthing window?’” he added. “There will be huge issues getting berthing
windows, with vessels probably having to anchor outside [the ports].”
He said
that a lot of the major shipping lines will already have agreements to call at
ports like Salalah in Oman, but the pressure on capacity at these ports will be
mounting with an increase in demand. “Space is very much filling up on the quayside,
so carriers are moving cargo very quickly through the port. Cargo will only be
discharged onto the quays for maybe one or two days and then that will be
evacuated out of the port confines to container freight stations elsewhere.”
This could
spell massive disruption for the automotive supply chain. With increased
competition and demand on berthing spaces, capacity will be squeezed and could
likely drive rates up. On top of this, cargo being evacuated from ports and
moved elsewhere to container freight stations will mean delays in deliveries to
factories and thereby to customers.
During the
recent Red Sea crisis, delays of two weeks were seen for some OEMs as a
knock-on result. In finished vehicle logistics, the crisis had far-spanning
impacts reaching European ports, which handled hundreds of thousands fewer
finished vehicles because of the disruption.
Insurance
costs for shippers and logistics service providers are also likely to see an
increase.
Compounding
on this is the fact that the strait is primarily used for the transport of oil.
With potential oil shortages because of the disruption, LSPs and OEMs will see fuel costs go up, but the vessels themselves could be in danger of running out of the
fuel needed for these flows, according to Dekker.
“The lines
themselves have got issues in terms of getting fuel for all of these services,”
he said. “Maersk I know have contingency plans to load extra fuel at US and
European ports, taking that fuel back to Asia and then doing ship-to-ship
transfers to vessels there. All in all, it’s a huge uproar for all of the lines
and managing all of this on a day-to-day basis.”
