Cargo congestion at UAE's east coast ports worsens as carriers reduce capacity, causing delays and extended transit times across the region.
Cargo bound for the Middle East continues to accumulate across the Gulf of Oman. Port advisory data published by Kuehne+Nagel in early November - with figures current to 30 October - confirms that congestion at the UAE's east coast ports of Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, and Sharjah is intensifying, with vessel waiting times now measured in weeks and further deterioration anticipated over the near term.
At Khor Fakkan, significant volumes of vessels remain at anchor, with average waiting times reaching 7.25 days. Over the preceding 30 days, vessels calling at the port arrived an average of 7.4 days late and departed 5.7 days behind schedule. At Fujairah, the average waiting time for container vessels over the past seven days stood at 8.86 days, with average late arrivals of 7.58 days and late departures of 7.65 days. Sharjah records a shorter anchorage wait of approximately three days, though port entry and departure delays have exceeded four days over the same 30-day window.
Fujairah continues to enforce discharge restrictions on foreign cargo, hazardous materials, and special equipment. These restrictions mean that even once a vessel secures a berth, certain container types may face further delays before discharge can be completed, extending overall turnaround times beyond what waiting figures alone suggest.
The disruption extends well beyond the waterfront. Kuehne+Nagel monitoring indicates that inland transit times from Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to destination terminals at Jebel Ali, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi have extended from approximately five days to between 12 and 15 days. The cumulative timeline for a Middle East container currently reflects the following sequence: anchorage waiting of approximately seven to nine days; discharge subject to cargo-category restrictions; and a further two-week delay before onward trucking to destination warehouses. Yard capacity, trucking availability, and customs clearance resources are all operating under strain, with land-side dwell times rising in parallel.
Data from The Signal Group's dry bulk weekly report, drawing on Signal Ocean platform figures current to 28 October, records 265 bulk carriers waiting across 29 ports in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Of these, 74 vessels were anchored off Fujairah and 50 off Sohar - the two ports together accounting for approximately half of all bulk vessels waiting in the region, a figure approximately 75 percent higher than the equivalent period in the prior year. While this data set does not include container vessels, the concentration of bulk carriers in the Gulf of Oman and the queuing of container vessels at the UAE's three east coast ports share a common underlying factor: the conditions in the Strait of Hormuz are elevating overall vessel waiting times across Middle Eastern waters.
According to Kuehne+Nagel, a number of carriers have begun reducing capacity allocations to Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, and Sharjah. As of the reporting date, however, widespread direct port omissions or large-scale diversion to alternative ports have not materialized. The only formal public announcement confirmed at this stage is from Maersk. On 30 October, Maersk issued a customer advisory temporarily adjusting booking acceptance and cargo routing for Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, and certain Upper Gulf destinations. Under the terms of the advisory, already-booked cargo is being addressed on a shipment-by-shipment basis through direct contact with customer managers to arrange alternative solutions; in-transit cargo remains subject to potential delays; new bookings are accepted subject to actual space availability; and existing bookings not loaded on the originally nominated vessel will not be automatically rolled to the next sailing - alternative arrangements for space, cost, and transit time must be confirmed separately. The advisory does not specify a complete list of affected destinations and does not indicate an end date, with the carrier retaining discretion to reassess the situation on a rolling weekly basis.
Kuehne+Nagel assesses that Middle East import demand remains robust, with precautionary inventory build continuing to add volume pressure. Alternative gateway ports are approaching saturation, and delays are expected to widen further over the coming weeks. The forwarder recommends that shippers diversify their carrier and gateway combinations and advises consideration of alternative ports such as Salalah and Duqm in Oman, where trucking capacity currently remains comparatively available. Shippers are further advised to build additional lead time into their cargo planning to accommodate the extended end-to-end timelines now characteristic of the region.
