Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have all barred, Qatar-flagged and owned vessels, and in some cases any vessels calling at Qatar from calling at their ports following an escalation of a diplomatic dispute with Qatar.
Particularly hit would be Qatar’s Milaha Maritime & Logistics which according to analyst Alphaliner operates four services in the region with 11 containerships deployed.
“Apart from Milaha, other carriers providing deep sea and feeder services covering Qatar could also be affected by the shut down of sea links between Saudi Arabia or UAE and Qatar,” Alphaliner said.
These services are MSC on its Falcon service, the Ocean Alliance on its MEA2 rotation, and Transworld/Xpress on its DJS/DUX rotation.
Alphaliner suggested that container lines could bypass the ban by switching services from hubbing the UAE to Oman, which is unaffected by the dispute, for cargo which is bound for Qatar.
“The port of Sohar in Oman could replace Jebel Ali as the main relay hub for con- tainer cargo to reach Qatar in the near term while the diplomatic tension remains to be resolved,” it said.
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