Iran war redraws sea routes with Africa as the pivot
Rerouting has become systematic, with 70% of Red Sea freight now moving via the Cape of Good Hope, supply chain experts said.
- Today, 70% of freight traffic that previously crossed the Red Sea is being rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope, as commercial vessel traffic via this route has more than tripled in three years.
- Avoiding the Red Sea from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the Suez Canal dates back to November 19, 2023, following the first attack on a container ship by Iran-backed Houthi militias from Yemen.
- Transport times between Asia and Europe have lengthened by an average of two weeks, while costs rose because 30% to 50% more fuel is needed to ensure service frequency, said Yves Guillo, supply chain expert at Efeso.
- Port congestion is emerging at Jeddah, where ships face an average wait of 36 hours, forcing shipowners to use alternative land corridors through Oman's Sohar and the UAE's Khorfakkan and Fujairah.
- With the current situation in the Gulf, "it's not going to get better anytime soon," said Edouard Louis-Dreyfus, chairman of French shipping giant Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, as the blockade forces structural changes to global trade routes.
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The closure of the Strait of Ormuz and the tensions in the Red Sea push shipowners to find solutions.
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Iran war redraws sea routes with Africa as the pivot
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz as well as tensions in the Red Sea are reshaping trade routes, with Africa becoming a hub of global container ship traffic, according to logistics and maritime sources.
Iran conflict forces global shipping reroute via Africa
PARIS: A widening conflict tied to Iran and rising insecurity across key Middle Eastern waterways is quietly redrawing the world’s maritime map. What was once a fast, predictable network of Asia–Europe shipping lanes is now being rerouted through longer, costlier paths—with Africa emerging as the unexpected centre of global container trade. According to logistics and maritime data shared by industry trackers and freight forwarders, the average c…
Paris (France), 1 May 2026 (AFP) – The closure of the Strait of Ormuz, but above all the tensions in the Red Sea, re-designs the logistics routes of the merchandise trade, Africa becoming a pivot of the world traffic of container ships, according to logistic and maritime sources. Locally, for two months, the blockade of Ormuz has also pushed the shipowners to [...] Article International trade: with the war, maritime routes are re-drawing, Africa…
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