UAE Eastern Ports Handle Bulk of Trade After Strait of Hormuz Closure

At the UAE port of Fujairah on Wednesday, conveyor belts offloaded grain from bulk carriers while crude oil flowed through pipes onto tankers berthed along its quay. Dozens of loaded trucks lined up near the port with others parked outside waiting their turn.

Offshore, vessels from shipping lines including Cosco and Gardenia lay at anchor as service boats moved between them. Fujairah and Khor Fakkan, which has open access to the Indian Ocean, have become the UAE's main economic lifeline since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The ports are now handling the bulk of the UAE's seaborne trade in place of major terminals on the western coast inside the Gulf, where ships have been stranded. Since the start of the Iran war, crude exports through Fujairah have risen 38 percent, pushing toward the upper limit of the pipeline that feeds the port.

At Khor Fakkan, the number of containers handled has jumped roughly 25-fold. The port has also begun to regularly accept container vessels for the first time.

Iran reminded the region of the ports' exposure on Monday when its drones hit the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, sparking a fire at one of the UAE's critical energy facilities and injuring three workers. Hours earlier, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy had published a map appearing to extend its zone of control along the UAE's eastern coastline, encompassing both ports.

Shipping sources said on Tuesday that neither port had yet been affected by the actions, but the message from Tehran was clear. Top UAE officials have repeatedly stressed that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a critical priority. They have said they reserve the right to respond to attacks against the UAE.

"No country has the right to disrupt international trade flows or threaten supply routes," Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told a logistics forum in St. Petersburg last month.

Fujairah sits at the end of the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which can carry between 1.5 million and 1.8 million barrels per day from inland fields to the Gulf of Oman, bypassing the Strait. Crude exports from Fujairah rose to an average of 1.62 million barrels per day by late March from 1.17 million barrels per day in February.

Khor Fakkan's transformation has been even more dramatic. The number of import and export containers handled every week has jumped to 50,000 from a previous 2,000. Truck movements have risen to about 7,000 trucks a day from 100 trucks a day before the war.

The company hired 900 people in two weeks at the start of the war. Shipping data confirms the picture. Traffic at both ports remained robust despite Monday's attacks, with six container ships berthed at Khor Fakkan and 10 more waiting, while Fujairah had two vessels at berth with another waiting.

Logistics firms say operations remain uninterrupted for now, apart from congestion. These ports are currently the only direct UAE port options for cargo destined to the UAE to avoid long road transits and border crossings via Saudi Arabia or Oman.

The UAE is not alone in seeking alternatives. Saudi Arabia has kept exports flowing at roughly 7 million barrels per day throughout the conflict via its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have fewer options as their marine links lie behind Hormuz, leaving them reliant on Khor Fakkan for seaborne imports or on overland shipments through Saudi Arabia.

The company operating Khor Fakkan is planning a new inland logistics hub roughly 50 km from the port. The facility, a dry port of more than 100 hectares linked by road and rail, will handle container transshipment and general cargo storage. It is a joint investment with the government of Sharjah and will cost over $100 million in its first phase.

Monday's strikes served as a reminder of how exposed the new Gulf trade architecture remains. A previous drone attack on Fujairah's energy infrastructure on March 14 triggered fires and the suspension of some oil-loading operations. The company acknowledged uncertainty about when the strait will reopen.