Saudi Arabia Launches New Shipping Service As Hormuz Remains Blocked To Commercial Traffic

Saudi Arabia’s Port Authority Mawani has inaugurated a new shipping service connecting the ports of Jeddah, Salalah, and Djibouti, with a capacity of 1,730 standard containers, amid the Strait of Hormuz blockade, to boost connectivity with global ports.

This week, the Saudi Port Authority also launched a Red Sea Express linking Jeddah, Yanbu, Egypt’s Sukhna, and the Jordanian port of Aqaba, with a capacity of 1,100 containers.

Saudi Arabia has been working to find alternative shipping routes since the US-Iran war began, leading to a global rise in oil prices.

It has also been pressing the U.S. to end its blockade of Hormuz and Iranian ports, fearing further strikes by Iran and the potential closure of the Bab-al-Mandab Strait by Iran or its allies like Yemen’s Ansarallah.

When the conflict peaked in March, Saudi Arabia reportedly used the East–West Pipeline to bypass the Iranian blockade on Hormuz for just 5 million barrels.

Another pipeline was also activated, as Riyadh and Abu Dhabi diverted massive volumes of oil from the Hormuz route through Red Sea ports at Yabu and Al-Muajjiz.

This development coincides with Israel and the UAE expanding their intelligence and military cooperation in the Middle East, especially on Yemeni islands, through joint intelligence facilities on the Socotra Archipelago.