Seatrade-Maritime: Maersk adds $1,000 per container charge for Hormuz transits

Published by Seatrade-Maritime

Maersk has added a new additional fee of $1,000 per container for cargo on any vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, adding to existing emergency freight rates for many regional cargoes.

The line is not currently operating any services via the Strait of Hormuz, but added the fee in its latest operational update on 23 July.

Vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz have plummeted over the past week in response to ongoing attacks on ships by Iran and the US blockade of Iranian ports.

Part of Maersk’s response to the Middle East crisis was the adoption of a landbridge between Red Sea ports and those on the Gulf coast, connecting Gulf states to external markets via Suez and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. That route may now face its own challenges.

Maersk did not immediately respond to questions on whether its operations will be affected by the Houthi threat on 19 July to blockade Saudi Arabian ports and prevent Saudi-linked vessels transiting Bab el-Mandeb. The Houthi claimed two Saudi tankers were attacked overnight on 23 July under the blockade, although only one of the attacks has been confirmed by Saudi sources so far.

Maersk only recently announced a return to the Red Sea for some of its services after the major container lines all rerouted most of their services around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Houthi threat off Yemen in late 2023.

Maersk’s 40th Middle East Operational Update details a list of measures the line has put in place since the US and Israel attacked Iran on the last day of February 2026. The measures include a series of landbridge solutions connecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Iraq, although landside bookings have been suspended on many routes.

The line managed to move some of its vessels out of the Arabian Gulf during the period of calm following the US-Iran peace MoU. In late June, Maersk Baltimore and a time-chartered ship left the Gulf after “thorough security assessments”, leaving three Maersk vessels in the Gulf, it said at the time. Earlier in May, Maersk announced that one of its vessels had exited the Gulf under US military escort.

Global challenges

The restrictions in the Gulf and Red Sea have global implications for shipping, but the Middle East conflict is not alone in affecting logistics.

Maersk also faces challenges in the Black Sea and suspended services via Chornomorsk Fishing Port in Odesa, Ukraine. “Due to the current situation affecting our operating area, the feeder operator is unable to continue providing service to Ukraine via Chornomorsk Fishing Port,” the company said in an update.

Cargo on VSL Medkon Mira, voyage 629S, has been redirected for discharge in Romania.

Chornomorsk and its neighbouring ports have been the target of Russian drone attacks in recent weeks as Ukraine and Russia exchange strikes on ships and shipping infrastructure in and around the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.