Regional QHSE & Compliance Manager – Americas

To:                       All Pentagon Clients

From:                  Middle East & India Management Team

Date:                   23 July 2026

Subject:               Global Customer Advisory – Middle East Supply Chain Impact: Gateway Status & Operational Guidance

Dear Valued Customer,

Following our previous communications, we are providing a further update on global air and ocean supply chains linked to the Middle East. Subject update focuses on the operational status of the region’s main air and sea gateways and what it means for your shipments.

In short: the ocean environment has deteriorated sharply since our last update, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively unusable for scheduled services, and air capacity remains uneven across the region’s hub airports.

Air Freight – Gateway Status

Middle Eastern carriers had progressively restored operations through Q2 2026, with freighter capacity approaching pre-crisis levels. That recovery has since been uneven, with capacity concentrated on UAE and Qatar based carriers while several long-haul foreign carriers remain suspended.

Logistics takeaways – Air

• Book on UAE- and Qatar-based carriers (Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways) where possible; several major foreign carriers remain suspended on Gulf routes into August-October.
• Kuwait and Bahrain currently offer the least reliable air capacity, confirm every booking flight-by-flight and hold contingency routing via Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha.
• Fuel costs and emergency/security surcharges remain elevated across all carriers, and cost normalization continues to lag behind any capacity recovery.

Ocean Freight – Gateway Status

The Strait of Hormuz remains the central bottleneck for the region. Weekly vessel transits have fallen by roughly two-thirds versus pre-escalation levels, and mainstream carriers continue to route cargo around rather than through the Strait.

Logistics takeaways – Ocean

• Treat the Strait of Hormuz as closed for planning purposes. Routing available via Khalifa Port, Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Sohar, or Salalah instead of scheduling direct upper-Gulf calls.
• Berthing waits of 3-4 weeks are being reported at Khor Fakkan/Fujairah/Jeddah, and 10-12 days landside dwell at Jeddah.
• Jeddah land bridge for upper-Gulf bound cargo is facing challenges; discharge and forward via Khor Fakkan, Sharjah, or Salalah direct present more reliable options.
• Freight costs on diverted lanes have risen materially, industry reporting cites increases of four to six times on some routes and war risk insurance continues to reprice at short notice. Inland transfer costs between alternate ports (e.g., Khor Fakkan to Jebel Ali) have also risen due to congestion and documentation delays.

Operational Impact and Ripple Effects

• Continued congestion across alternative hubs (Khalifa, Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Jeddah, KAP)
• Feeder and inland bottlenecks, with a mismatch between vessel volumes and the handling capacity of smaller alternate ports
• Ground capacity in Qatar reduced by driver entry restrictions; Bahrain’s free zone open but appointment only, with LTL delays
• Customs and clearance remain constrained in Bahrain, Kuwait, and parts of the UAE; Oman, Jordan, and Egypt continue to clear with minimal delay
• Rising costs for alternative routings and continued schedule disruption and equipment imbalance region wide

What This Means for Your Shipments

• Plan on the Strait of Hormuz being unusable for scheduled ocean services for the foreseeable future
• Build minimum 3-4 weeks buffers into routings via Khor Fakkan/Fujairah, and expect 10+ day dwell at Jeddah
• Expect continued air capacity gaps on Kuwait and Bahrain routings specifically, alongside broader Gulf surcharges and fuel-cost pressure
• Budget for materially higher freight and insurance costs on diverted lanes until mainstream carriers resume direct Gulf/Hormuz calls
• High volatility remains the baseline, routings and gateway status can change with very short notice

Pentagon Guidance and Support

Pentagon remains fully mobilized globally to support your operations:

• Securing air capacity across the region’s operating gateways
• Managing ocean shipments via Khalifa Port, Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Sohar, and Salalah in place of direct Hormuz transits
• Monitoring gateway by gateway status in real time through direct carrier and terminal engagement
• Supporting contingency planning and routing adjustments as conditions change

We recommend that customers:

• Book early and plan proactively
• Maintain flexibility on routing and transport mode
• Share updated forecasts regularly
• Review insurance coverage, including war risk provisions
• Stay in close coordination with Pentagon teams

Pentagon will continue to monitor developments closely and provide further updates.

Your supply chain continuity and the safety of our people remain our top priorities.

Yours Sincerely,

Pentagon Middle East & India Management Team.

Dear Valued Customer,

Following our previous communications, we are providing a further update on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and its continued impact on global air and ocean supply chains. The overall situation remains fragile and security-driven. While air freight is showing gradual recovery, the ocean environment continues to face elevated risk exposure and sustained operational disruption.

Air Freight – Capacity Recovery Update

Middle Eastern carriers continue to progressively restore operations:

• Freighter capacity is now close to 100% restored
• Passenger flight schedules have recovered to approximately 75% of normal levels

This is supporting improved regional connectivity and increasing available capacity. However:

• Fuel costs remain elevated
• Emergency and fuel-related surcharges remain in place
• Cost normalization is expected to lag behind capacity recovery

Ocean Freight – Elevated Risk Environment

From an ocean perspective, no improvement has been observed, and the overall environment remains highly sensitive and security-driven.

• The Strait of Hormuz continues to represent a critical and high-risk maritime corridor
• Carriers maintain restrictive routing strategies and heightened operating caution
• Insurance, war risk, and security-related requirements remain elevated and continue to fluctuate at short notice

While key regional ports and alternative gateways remain operational, the broader environment continues to require cautious navigation and careful planning due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

Operational Impact and Global Ripple Effects

Operational constraints remain consistent:

• Continued congestion across alternative hubs
• Feeder and inland bottlenecks
• Ongoing delays in port handling and container evacuation

Additional downstream effects are becoming more visible:

• Increased pressure and delays across global trade corridors
• Rising costs for alternative routings
• Continued schedule disruption and equipment imbalance

Broader Supply Chain Implications

The situation is expected to have prolonged global consequences, including:

• Disruption to energy and related supply chains
• Impact on petrochemicals, plastics, and industrial raw materials
• Exposure across key commodities originating from the Persian Gulf

These dynamics are expected to result in:

• Supply shortages in certain sectors
• Longer lead times
• Continued upward pressure on costs

What This Means for Your Shipments

Customers should continue to plan for:

• Extended and less predictable ocean transit times
• Elevated risk across Middle East-related trade lanes
• Gradual improvement in air freight capacity
• Sustained cost pressure from fuel, security, and operational surcharges
• High volatility depending on further geopolitical developments

Pentagon Guidance and Support

Pentagon remains fully mobilized globally to support your operations:

• Securing air capacity as recovery continues
• Managing ocean shipments via alternative and controlled routings
• Monitoring developments in real time through direct carrier engagement
• Supporting contingency planning and supply chain adjustments

We recommend that customers:

• Book early and plan proactively
• Maintain flexibility on routing and transport mode
• Share updated forecasts regularly
• Review insurance coverage, including war risk provisions
• Stay in close coordination with Pentagon teams

While air freight is showing encouraging signs of recovery, the overall environment remains highly volatile and operationally constrained, particularly on the ocean side. The current situation reinforces the expectation of prolonged disruption with broader global impact, despite continued operational availability across key regional hubs.

Pentagon will continue to monitor developments closely and provide further updates.al Situation

Your supply chain continuity—and the safety of our people—remain our top priorities.

Yours Sincerely,

Pentagon Middle East & India Management Team

Dear Valued Customer,

Following our previous advisories, we are providing an updated and consolidated view of the ongoing geopolitical situation in the Middle East and its continued impact on global air and ocean supply chains.

While a ceasefire remains in place, it is fragile and subject to change at short notice. A second round of U.S.–Iran negotiations is currently on hold, and the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz continues. Overall, the situation on the ground can be characterized as tense but currently stable, with no indication of immediate normalization. What began as a regional disruption continues to drive broad and uneven impacts across global supply chains and network recovery.

Security Developments and Operating Environment

Recent vessel-related incidents and continued military posturing confirm that elevated security risks persist across the region. Control, rules of engagement, and enforcement remain inconsistent, sustaining uncertainty for commercial operations.

Key considerations:

• Neutral ownership, flag, or cargo type does not eliminate operational risk
• Carriers continue to operate under heightened security and insurance constraints
• Routing decisions remain conservative pending sustained and verifiable stability

Strait of Hormuz – Transit Conditions

Transit through the Strait of Hormuz remains technically possible but highly restricted and conditional:

• Navigation remains limited to narrow corridors, materially increasing operational and insurance risk
• No formal easing of war-risk or navigational restrictions has been communicated by authorities, carriers, or insurers
• Industry and security sources continue to caution that normalization may take months, even under de-escalation scenarios

Carriers therefore maintain a heightened risk posture, with conservative routing strategies still in effect.

Trade Flows and Routing Adjustments

Cargo continues to move into the Middle East via alternative and indirect routings:

• Jebel Ali–bound cargo
  • ~70% routed via Khor Fakkan
  • ~30% routed via Sohar

• Saudi Arabia (Dammam and Riyadh)
  • Routed primarily via Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdullah Port

• Upper Gulf cargo
  • Increasingly routed via Jeddah and King Abdullah Port, particularly for shipments from Europe and the United States

These routings remain operationally viable but continue to add complexity, transit time, and cost.

Market Situation – Middle East

• Estimated recovery levels
  • UAE: ~70%
  • Saudi Arabia: ~60%

• Weekly vessel capacity currently
  • ~18,000–20,000 TEU across the region
  • Compared with pre-crisis levels of ~100,000 TEU

• Feeder capacity constraints
  • End-of-voyage requirements and transshipment dependencies continue to place significant pressure on feeder networks
  • Notable congestion persists on Indian export corridors, particularly from Mundra and Nhava Sheva into the Middle East

Hinterland and Port Operations

Congestion and operational constraints persist across key alternative gateways:

• Khor Fakkan
  • Sustained high utilization
  • Potential delays of 7–10 days
  • Export and empty container restrictions in effect
  • Emergency Operational Recovery Surcharges applied
  • Inland ICD redirections (e.g., Sajaa, Mleiha) used to ease truck congestion

• Sohar and Salalah (Oman)
  • Ongoing yard congestion and multi-day waiting times

• Jebel Ali
  • No material congestion, but significantly reduced throughput
  • Backlog management supported via rail and transloading through Khor Fakkan
  • Restrictions remain on reefer and dangerous goods cargo

• Jeddah and King Abdullah Port
  • Congested, absorbing diverted Upper Gulf volumes

As a result of these conditions, export shipments are becoming increasingly challenging, particularly where feeder and inland coordination is required. No new acute global congestion hotspots related to the Middle East have been reported in the past 24 hours; however, diversion-driven pressure continues at alternative gateways.

Emergency Bunker Adjustment Factors (EBAF) and Cost Environment

Two carriers have recently implemented additional increases to their Emergency Bunker Adjustment Factors (EBAF). Fuel cost pressure remains elevated. While a modest softening in oil prices has been observed, fuel-related volatility is expected to persist. Emergency bunker, fuel, security, congestion, and operational surcharges therefore remain in place and may continue to evolve.

Air Freight – Capacity and Cost Update

No material adverse developments have been reported on the air freight side.

• Middle Eastern carriers continue to progressively restore schedules, additional carriers commenced services into UAE and Qatar.
• Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq airports now operational with limited services
• Regional connectivity continues to improve, supporting gradual capacity recovery

Despite these positive developments:

• Fuel costs remain elevated
• Emergency and fuel-related surcharges persist
• Cost normalization is expected to lag capacity recovery

What This Means for Your Shipments

Customers should continue to plan for:

• Delays, diversions, and revised routings
• Schedule volatility driven by backlog clearance and vessel repositioning
• Additional surcharges, including inland-related adjustments
• Ongoing network imbalance and elevated cost levels during recovery

Pentagon Mitigation Measures and Customer Guidance

Pentagon remains fully mobilized globally to:

• Monitor developments in real time through direct carrier engagement
• Secure capacity for critical and time-sensitive shipments
• Deploy alternative and multimodal routing solutions where viable
• Support backlog management and recovery planning

We recommend that customers:

• Share updated forecasts regularly
• Confirm bookings as early as possible
• Review insurance coverage, including war-risk terms
• Maintain flexibility in routing and transit expectations
• Plan for continued variability in lead times and costs

We strongly encourage close coordination with your Pentagon/JAS account representative to assess shipment-specific risks, routing alternatives, and cost implications. While some gradual progress is visible, the situation remains highly dynamic, security-driven, and operationally constrained. Network recovery will take time as conditions stabilize and systems rebalance.

Pentagon will continue to monitor developments closely and provide further updates.

Your supply chain continuity—and the safety of our people—remain our top priorities.

Yours Sincerely,

Pentagon Middle East & India Management Team