{"id":519072,"date":"2026-03-04T23:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519072\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:24:09","slug":"middle-east-conflict-triggers-worst-freight-disruption-for-australian-shippers-since-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519072\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle-East conflict triggers worst freight disruption for Australian shippers since COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Six days of escalating conflict in the Gulf have plunged Australian supply chains into disarray, according to a 4 March special update from D&D Worldwide Logistics. Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran\u2019s missile retaliation, 11 Gulf countries closed their airspace and every major ocean carrier suspended transits of the Strait of Hormuz. (ddwlogistics.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

For Australian importers and exporters the Gulf is more than a market\u2014it is the primary transit hub for cargo moving between Australia, Europe and the UK. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have halted commercial passenger and belly-hold freight flights, slashing available capacity on Australia\u2013Europe lanes by an estimated 18 per cent week-on-week. Ocean lines Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM have rerouted vessels via the Cape of Good Hope, adding at least 14 days to voyage times and imposing war-risk or emergency conflict surcharges. (ddwlogistics.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Forwarders report backlogs building at Australian origin airports as perishables, pharmaceuticals and e-commerce consignments miss their connections in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Spot air-freight rates to Europe have already jumped 35 per cent since 1 March, while container rates on the North-Europe service are expected to rise when carriers publish next-week programmes. <\/p>\n

\"Middle-East<\/p>\n

If critical staff now have to transit unfamiliar airports or enter new jurisdictions to keep freight moving, obtaining the right travel documents quickly becomes another bottleneck. VisaHQ\u2019s Australia portal (https:\/\/www.visahq.com\/australia\/<\/a>) offers rapid visa checks, step-by-step online applications and concierge support, helping logistics teams secure transit and work visas at short notice so their supply chains can adapt with minimal delay. <\/p>\n

Businesses with just-in-time inventory models are the hardest hit. Automotive suppliers in Victoria report line-stop risks within ten days if parts do not clear backlog. Large retailers are advancing purchase orders and switching to trans-Pacific routings via Los Angeles, despite higher costs and longer inland moves. Food exporters shipping lamb and citrus to the UK face spoilage concerns and may shift to East-Coast North American gateways until air capacity normalises.<\/p>\n

D&D Worldwide advises Australian traders to \u201cassume space is unavailable unless confirmed,\u201d lodge advanced dangerous-goods declarations, and budget for surcharges that could exceed AUD 1,000 per TEU. While Jebel Ali has reopened, carrier-level embargoes mean meaningful relief is unlikely before mid-March. Contingency planning, extra safety stock and multi-modal flexibility are now critical for Australian companies reliant on Europe-bound supply chains.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six days of escalating conflict in the Gulf have plunged Australian supply chains into disarray, according to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-519072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}