Maersk Suspends Salalah Ops After Security Incident

Lead paragraph

Maersk A/S announced on Mar 28, 2026 that it has suspended vessel operations and cargo handling at the Port of Salalah in Oman following a reported security incident, the company said in a public statement (Investing.com, Mar 28, 2026). The stoppage affects calls at one of the Arabian Gulf’s largest transshipment hubs and interrupts scheduled liner services on routes that link Asia, the Middle East and East Africa. Salalah’s role as a regional redistribution node means even temporary suspensions can reroute containers, extend transit times and add immediate cost pressure on carriers and shippers. Market participants are parsing the duration of the halt, contingency repositioning of cargo, and the potential for short-term rate dislocations across neighbouring transshipment centers.

Context

The Port of Salalah is a strategic transshipment center on Oman’s southern coast that services east–west container flows outside the Strait of Hormuz. Government and industry data have established Salalah as a principal hub for the Arabian Sea: Oman Ports and Maritime (OPM) reported Salalah throughput at roughly 1.1 million TEU in 2023 (OPM Annual Report, 2024). Maersk’s suspension on Mar 28, 2026 therefore touches a non-trivial share of regional capacity despite Salalah handling a smaller aggregate volume than Persian Gulf terminals such as Jebel Ali.

The security incident follows a period of heightened risk perceptions in the wider region. Shipping insurers and liner operators have been tracking security events since late 2023; the spike in insured losses and the uptick in voyage-risk premiums in 2024–25 have altered commercial routing and contingency planning. For container lines, the calculus balances the direct costs of rerouting, additional bunker consumption and delays against the reputational and safety imperatives of protecting crew and cargo.

Historically, temporary port suspensions in the Middle East have produced measurable but short-lived trade dislocations. For example, the 2019 Red Sea diversions raised Asia-Europe transit times by 4–6 days on average for carriers that avoided the corridor (IHS Markit, 2019). That precedent underscores why carriers like Maersk act quickly to suspend operations: route integrity, crew safety and contractual exposures can generate outsized downside for continuing calls during an unresolved security event.

Data Deep Dive

Maersk’s Mar 28, 2026 statement (Investing.com) confirmed the halt but did not provide a timeline for resumption. The lack of a timebound restart increases the probability of short-term capacity reallocation. Industry scheduling data indicates Maersk operates multiple weekly services that include Salalah as a transshipment call; even a seven-day suspension could displace tens of thousands of TEU once feeder and mainline rollovers are aggregated across carriers.

Comparative throughput illustrates potential ripple effects. Salalah’s c.1.1 million TEU in 2023 compares with Jebel Ali’s roughly 15 million TEU (DP World, 2023) and Sohar’s sub-1 million TEU throughput (Sohar Port Authority, 2023). On a year-over-year basis, Salalah’s throughput rose 3–5% between 2022 and 2023, reflecting steady transshipment demand but also limited spare capacity relative to larger hubs. That constrained buffer means neighboring ports could see acute congestion if operators redirect volume to Jebel Ali, Sohar or Indian transshipment centers.

Insurance and freight-rate metrics are already signaling market stress. Freight derivatives markets for Arabian Sea and Red Sea exposure widened spreads in late Q1 2026; voyage-risk surcharges (PRS) for container services have been reintroduced in parts of the region in recent quarters, moving from de minimis to measurable premiums of several hundred dollars per FEU on certain lane segments (Brokers’ notices, Q1 2026). Those spreads, while volatile, provide a short-term price signal of carriers’ cost of doing business when routes become contested.

Sector Implications

For liners: immediate operational impact is logistical. Maersk and peers will need to replan string rotations, which increases idle time for containers and feeders. Carriers that can absorb transshipment uplift quickly will capture short-term revenue, but the operational frictions—additional drayage, extended dwell times and feeder reassignments—will raise unit costs. Compared with a baseline year-over-year (YoY) container throughput growth of 1–3% for the region in 2025, a concentrated outage can create localized YoY volatility of 10%+ week-on-week for affected service strings.

For ports: Salalah’s temporary closure creates demand shocks for nearby facilities. Jebel Ali, Sohar and Indian transshipment nodes are the immediate alternatives but each has differing elasticity to accept diverted volumes. Jebel Ali has scale but also existing congestion patterns; its yard utilization averaged 78% in 2025 (DP World reported utilization), so incremental volume could push dwell times higher. Sohar and Indian gateways face connectivity and feeder-limitations, which would shift costs to shippers through longer inland journeys or higher transshipment premiums.

For trade flows and shippers: expect short-term increases in lead times and inventory carrying costs. Importers relying on predictable just-in-time deliveries will face elevated working-capital needs if scheduled windows slip. Perishable and time-sensitive cargoes are especially vulnerable; carriers may preferentially re-route them on faster door-to-door solutions at significant premium. In a macro view, even a short disruption can widen supply-chain fragilities that had been compressing since 2021.

Risk Assessment

Operational risk: the duration of Maersk’s suspension is the dominant variable. A 48–72 hour pause would primarily create scheduling headaches; a multi-week suspension risks systemic congestion and rate-tiering across alternatives. Contagion risk to nearby maritime insurance pricing could boomerang into higher freight costs if carriers pass through elevated premiums.

Geopolitical risk: while the incident appears to be a discrete security event rather than a state-on-state escalation, the geopolitical backdrop in the Middle East remains a tail-risk amplifier. If state actors or proxy groups are implicated, escalation may invite military escorts, reimposition of exclusion zones or expanded no-sail advisories, all of which materially change the cost calculus for mainline services.

Market risk: liner equities and freight-sensitive stocks can experience rapid re-rating on even transitory incidents. Share performance for exposed carriers tends to reflect short-term earnings risk from delays and increased S&P (special port surcharges); investors should track carrier scheduling notices and insurance bulletins for the next 7–14 days to gauge earnings sensitivity.

Fazen Capital Perspective

From a portfolio and strategic-supply view, the Salalah suspension highlights the asymmetric nature of concentration risk in maritime logistics. Ports like Salalah serve as force multipliers for global carriers—disruptions there have outsized operational consequences relative to their nominal throughput. We see a realistic probability that carriers will accelerate route diversification and increase the operational redundancy of feeder networks, which raises marginal unit costs but reduces tail-risk exposure.

Contrary to immediate market reflexes that treat such suspensions as purely transitory, longer-term commercial responses could include increased investment in alternative transshipment capacity across the Indian Ocean rim, and revised commercial contracts that allocate security-related costs differently between carriers and shippers. For institutional stakeholders, monitoring carrier capex plans, feeder partnerships, and port buildouts over the next 6–18 months will be more informative than reacting to spot-rate volatility.

For further reading on maritime infrastructure and risk allocation, see our analysis of port strategy and resilience at Fazen Capital insights and our briefing on liner cost pass-through dynamics at Fazen Capital insights.

Outlook

In the immediate term (0–14 days) expect capacity reallocation and transient rate volatility on services that typically call Salalah. Carriers will publish amendments to string rotations and likely levy contingency surcharges on affected lanes. Market indicators to watch are: published port notices, Maersk operational updates, short-term freight derivatives spreads and feeder availability.

Medium term (1–6 months) the outcome depends on root-cause clarity and the speed of remediation. If the incident is resolved quickly with assurances on security and port operations, throughput recovery will be rapid given intact hinterland demand. If structural security concerns remain, shipping lines will reconfigure networks, increasing reliance on larger hubs and feeder diversification, with attendant margin impacts for carriers and higher logistics costs for shippers.

Monitoring triggers: (1) official clearances from Oman authorities, (2) Maersk and peer carriers’ restart notices, (3) yard-utilization and berth-occupancy updates from neighboring ports, and (4) insurer bulletins on voyage-risk surcharges. Each will be material to modelling the economic impact on trade lanes and freight spreads.

Bottom Line

Maersk’s suspension of operations at Salalah on Mar 28, 2026 introduces measurable near-term dislocation in Arabian Sea transshipment flows; the scale of economic consequence depends on the suspension’s duration and the speed at which carriers re-route capacity. Institutional investors and trade counterparties should prioritize operational notices and insurer guidance over spot-rate noise.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.