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Hormuz Strait Crisis Cargo Diversion: The world’s largest container shipping companies have planned a brand new service to link Europe with isolated ports in the Middle East. Under this, instead of passing through the closed Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia’s land routes (roads), trucks and small ships will be used in the Persian Gulf. Bloomberg has given information about this important change in one of its recent reports.

First shipping service will start from May 10

Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said in its official advisory issued on Saturday that the first shipping on this new route will start from Antwerp on May 10. This new sea and land route will also include ports in Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Spain. Under this, the ships will cross the Suez Canal and enter the Red Sea and then stop at Jeddah and King Abdullah, two major ports located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.

Trucks will be used through Saudi roads

Trucks will be used to transport goods from Jeddah and King Abdullah ports to Dammam, located on the east coast of the peninsula. The road distance from Jeddah to Dammam is approximately 1300 kilometers. After reaching Dammam, small ‘feeder ships’ Through this, goods will be connected to other major sea ports including Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali of Dubai. Both these areas are large industrial centers where hundreds of multinational companies are located. These companies depend on container cargo that previously easily transited through Hormuz.

Trouble increased due to closure of Strait of Hormuz

In fact, since the attack on Iran by the US and Israel on February 28, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been severely restricted. There are no signs of it opening soon. Due to its prolonged closure, shipping lines have been forced to look for land-based alternatives. However, these ground-based alternatives take more time, cost more and have higher carbon emissions.

Other companies also diverted routes

Ports on the east coast of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also now seeing heavy congestion of diverted containers, necessitating increased trucking capacity. Copenhagen’s famous company ‘Musk’ has also announced multi-modal landbridge solutions for cargo in the region.

At the same time, Hamburg-based &8216;Hafgh-Lloyd&8217; In March itself, it had said that it had established ground transportation routes in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Geneva-based MSC said in its advisory that the offering is in response to growing demand amid the challenging landscape of the Middle East. These feeder vessels of MSC will also deliver goods to Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait.