If you've got cargo heading to the Middle East right now, brace yourself. The news isn't great.
Ports across the region are buckling under pressure, and container lines are passing the pain straight onto shippers. From Jeddah to Khor Fakkan, from Sohar to Fujairah, the story is the same: congestion is getting worse, vessels are waiting days-sometimes over a week-just to find a berth, and surcharges are piling up faster than the containers in the yards.
Khor Fakkan: Seven-day waits and counting
Take Khor Fakkan in the UAE. Regional Container Lines just slapped a $450 per container fee on all import shipments into the port. Their reason? "Ongoing severe port congestion at Khor Fakkan, with vessel waiting times exceeding seven days".
Seven days. Just to get a spot at the dock.
And Khor Fakkan isn't alone. Together with Fujairah and Oman's Sohar port, these alternative hubs are all operating at maximum capacity. Kuehne + Nagel reported that Sohar is experiencing "severe congestion, with vessel berthing delays ranging from seven to 14 days". Two weeks of your cargo sitting on a ship, burning time-and money.
Jeddah: A bottleneck that keeps getting worse
Over in Saudi Arabia, the situation at Jeddah is no better. Container release times have stretched to six or even eight days. Vessels are facing berthing delays of up to 10 days. And carriers are responding with a barrage of surcharges:
MSC is charging a $500 per TEU congestion surcharge on Middle East imports via Jeddah.
Hapag-Lloyd is introducing a $1,000 per container "dangerous goods premium" on hazardous boxes shipped from Europe to Jeddah, starting 1 September.
Turkon Line has added $150 per TEU and $300 per 40ft for Jeddah bookings out of Turkey.
And it gets worse. Hapag-Lloyd recently told customers they'd be fully responsible for customs clearance and onward movement from Jeddah. If your container sits there beyond 15 days? That's on you. The carrier won't even accept future bookings without a signed letter of indemnity confirming you'll clear and move the cargo within that window.
The landside nightmare
Here's the part that doesn't show up in the surcharge announcements. Even if your container finally gets off the ship, the real headache is just beginning.
Landside assets-especially trucks-simply can't keep up with the volume of cargo that needs to move cross-border. Demand for road freight capacity has been running four to five times higher than supply, leading to what one local source in Jeddah called "crazy prices being paid for transportation".
In other words, even after you've paid the shipping line, the congestion fee, the dangerous goods premium, and the emergency surcharge, you still might not have a truck to move your container out of the port.
This is exactly the kind of chaos where experience pays off
When the market looks like this-when ports are gridlocked, carriers are layering on fees, and your cargo is caught in the middle-you need more than a booking confirmation. You need a partner who knows how to navigate the mess.
At Xiamen AE Global, we've been moving freight through exactly this kind of disruption since 2018. We're a government-licensed company with IATA, FIATA, FMC, and NVOCC credentials-which means when the Middle East goes sideways, we have the global network and the carrier relationships to keep your cargo moving.
Real relationships, real options
With over 100 overseas agents worldwide, we don't just read about port congestion in the news. We're on the ground, talking to our partners in real time, understanding what's actually happening at each gateway. When Khor Fakkan starts seeing seven-day waits, we're already exploring alternatives-whether that's rerouting through a less congested port, adjusting your shipping schedule, or finding a landbridge solution that bypasses the bottleneck entirely.
Flexibility that protects your bottom line
In a market where carriers are layering on surcharges left and right, having a forwarder who can adapt quickly isn't a luxury-it's a necessity. We work with our clients to find the most cost-effective routing, even when the market is chaotic. Sometimes that means switching carriers. Sometimes it means changing ports. Sometimes it means rethinking the entire logistics strategy. Whatever it takes, we're on it.
Local knowledge where it counts
Based in Xiamen-one of Asia's busiest port cities-we combine global reach with local expertise. We've moved over 12,000 TEUs in a single year with a 98.6% on-time delivery rate for our SME clients. That's not luck-it's the result of relentless execution and a network that doesn't fall apart when the market gets complicated.
The bottom line
The Middle East isn't getting easier. Ports are congested, surcharges are multiplying, and the landside infrastructure simply can't keep up. For shippers, that means higher costs, longer delays, and a lot more uncertainty.
But here's the thing: you don't have to navigate this alone.
At Xiamen AE Global, we don't just move boxes. We help our clients find smarter ways around the chaos-whether that's rerouting through a different gateway, negotiating better terms with carriers, or simply making sure your cargo gets where it needs to go without paying a premium for the privilege.
Because when the market is this messy, the difference between a smooth supply chain and a costly headache often comes down to one thing: who you've got on your side.
Ready to keep your Middle East shipments moving-without getting buried in surcharges? Contact Xiamen AE Global today, and let's find a smarter way through the chaos.
