Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd Suspend Key Middle East Shipping Routes
By Dominic Chopping
Container shipping groups A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd suspended key shipping routes into and out of the Middle East as the fallout from the war in the region continues to disrupt trade flows.
Maersk said Friday that it suspended shipping routes connecting the Middle East with Europe and the Far East as well as its Gulf shuttle services.
"Following our latest risk assessment and operational review and considering the escalating conflict affecting safe navigation in the Gulf region, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the FM1 service (connecting Far East to Middle East) and as well the ME11 service (connecting Middle East to Europe)," it said.
The Danish shipping group also said that the ME1 service connecting the Middle East to Northern Europe will drop its call in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates.
In the immediate aftermath of the weekend's attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, Maersk paused all sailings through the Suez Canal, instead rerouting ships around the southern tip of Africa.
It has already suspended all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz and stopped taking all bookings for temperature-controlled and dangerous goods cargo to and from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The booking suspension also applies to dry cargo to and from some of the affected countries.
Echoing the moves by Maersk, German shipping peer Hapag-Lloyd said Friday that it had suspended several services, including its Oman Gulf shuttle, Upper Gulf shuttle and routes connecting Asia with the Arabian Gulf and India and the Middle East with the Mediterranean. A new service will begin operating to ensure continued reliability and operational stability, it said.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2026 04:07 ET (09:07 GMT)
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