World News: Iran War Roils Global Trade --- Conflict is rippling through supply chains, snarling trade far from Mideast

“Emanuele Grimaldi had a shipment of European cars bound for the Persian Gulf when U.S. and Israeli munitions started raining down on Iran. The expensive cargo won't arrive anytime soon.

 

War in the Middle East has roiled oil and gas markets for much of the past two weeks. Now the conflict is starting to ripple beyond the energy industry, causing havoc for the complex global supply chains that underpin world trade.

 

Ports around the Indian Ocean are filling up with redirected cargoes. Rates to ship goods from Asia to anywhere near the Middle East have rocketed. Shipping hubs in Asia are running low on fuel. More than 100 ships are stuck in the Gulf.

 

Much of the shipping industry's pain -- like that for oil -- can be traced back to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the small but globally significant waterway between Iran and Oman.

 

"The issue has to be addressed one way or the other because it's too important for the whole world, for the whole economy," said Grimaldi, managing director of Grimaldi Group, the world's largest car carrier. Unable to deliver cars to the Gulf, Grimaldi found a fix acceptable to his clients: Dropping the cargo off at a port in Kenya that had a well-guarded place to keep it.

 

A second Grimaldi car carrier heading from Asia to the lucrative Middle Eastern market is still looking for somewhere to unload, while a third is trapped in the Gulf itself.

 

"Unfortunately most of the ports nearby, they're all full now," said Grimaldi. "It's a big issue. Once you have to discharge a vessel of five or six thousand cars, you occupy a lot of land."

 

Major container-shipping companies including A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have suspended key routes in and out of the Middle East on safety grounds. The disruption is starting to add to costs and delays for businesses around the world.

 

The turmoil is a blow to the shipping industry, which was just beginning to regain confidence to send cargo between Europe and Asia via the Red Sea -- a separate route rendered off-limits for two years because of attacks on ships by Yemen's Houthi rebels. Companies instead will have to keep relying on the longer, costlier voyage around Africa.

 

So far, the Pacific Ocean routes that serve much of the U.S. market remain largely unaffected, but shipping companies are watching the situation nervously. One way in which trouble could spread to the Pacific is through the availability and cost of fuel, analysts say.

 

"The longer the strait stays closed, the more the replenishing of oil inventories in Asia becomes a challenge," said Maersk Chief Executive Vincent Clerc.

 

The world's second-largest container shipping company has 10 ships trapped inside the Gulf. Clerc said it would need at least a week to 10 days to resume normal operations even in the event of a cease-fire.

 

On Thursday, a ship operated by Maersk was hit by fragments of a projectile. The Source Blessing normally runs a shuttle service from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz to Oman and back. Now it is in limbo outside Dubai.

 

A handful of ships have made it through the strait, including under Chinese and Turkish flags, according to analysts. But brokers say the limited transits for now represent a testing of the waters rather than a return to sailings.

 

Among the many business people desperate for a resumption of regular traffic is Yin Weile. The 38-year-old exporter had a shipment of hair clips and playdough scheduled to arrive at Dubai's port from China.

 

The ship turned around and docked in Karachi, Pakistan. The cargo -- worth about $43,000 -- is now stuck there, costing Yin roughly $200 a day in fees.

 

The Chinese shipping company used by Yin offered to take the goods to Khor Fakkan, a port just south of the Strait of Hormuz, for another $5,400 -- including a $3,000 "war surcharge" -- but not through it. "We asked some of the industry veterans for advice, but nobody had good ones," said Yin.” [1]

 

1. World News: Iran War Roils Global Trade --- Conflict is rippling through supply chains, snarling trade far from Mideast. Wilmot, Stephen; Feng, Rebecca; Paris, Costas.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Mar 2026: A6.