The war in Iran and the ensuing collapse in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has driven more cargo to Pakistani ports and effectively expanded their role in wider trade throughout South and Southeast Asia.
Throughout March, the Port of Karachi has stepped up as a pivotal transshipment hub—where cargo is transferred from one vessel to another before being loaded to another destination—as carriers spurn popular Middle Eastern transshipment gateways like the U.A.E.’s Port of Jebel Ali and Oman’s Port of Salalah due to safety concerns in the region.
The Pakistan port handled 8,313 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo designated for transshipment over the past 24 days, exceeding the total volume of roughly 8,000 TEUs recorded for all of 2025, according to data from the Karachi Port Trust (KPT).
In the days after the war kicked off on Feb. 28, the KPT asserted that it was ready to support global container shipping by offering transshipment services to regional ports.
“Karachi Port Trust remains fully prepared to support the international maritime community and to provide reliable, efficient, and secure port services in the interest of sustaining regional trade connectivity,” KPT chairman Shahid Ahmed said in a statement circulated by the port authority in early March.
The country’s government has sought to incentivize vessels to come to Karachi, offering up up to 60 percent cuts in port fees and berthing charges that went into effect March 18.
Ships carrying transshipment cargo equivalent to at least 50 percent of their gross registered tonnage will qualify for a flat 60 percent discount on port dues.
Large container ships carrying at least 25 percent transshipment cargo will also be eligible for up to a 50 percent reduction in “wet” charges. Those are fees KPT levies for providing navigational services to the vessels that enter or leave the port.
Pakistan’s largest seaport had already generated an all-time container handling record in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, registering 2.65 million total TEUs, or 4.5 percent growth from the year prior.
In the weeks since the conflict started, the Port of Karachi has handled around 75 percent of cargo redirected toward Pakistan, with the remaining 25 percent processed at Karachi’s other gateway, Port Muhammad Bin Qasim.
Mohammad Rajpar, chairman of the Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association, told Turkey-based news outlet Anadolu Ajansi that Karachi’s ports have become a “safe haven” and “temporary storage hub” for regional trade. Working in the port’s favor, the ports handle 3.8 million containers annually, he said, despite having the capacity to handle 6 million per year.
“Even if the war ends today, the traditional shipping routes will take at least three months to restore,” Rajpar told Anadolu.
Both the country’s government and several container shipping lines appear to be banking on the changes having an impact beyond the near term.
In March, Pakistani and Emirati authorities launched a new regular feeder shipping service from the port that connects with the ports of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan in the U.A.E.
The service calls at the Karachi Gateway Terminal Limited (KGTL), part of AD Ports Group’s international operating arm, Noatum Ports. The first vessel of the service arrived at KGTL on the evening of March 11.
And after the Port of Salalah briefly shuttered due to a drone strike that damaged a ship-to-shore crane, Hapag-Lloyd added two ad hoc westbound sailings on the India-to-U.S. East Coast India America Express (TPI) service to call at Pakistan’s Port Qasim.
The Stephanie C is currently en route on the east coast of Africa and is expected to reach Port Qasim by April 7. The port call to Salalah, scheduled for April 18, has been canceled.
The Niledutch Lion is expected to depart from India’s Mundra Port on April 7 and is scheduled to arrive at Qasim on April 9. Normally, that route goes from Mundra to Salalah, but the April 11 call to Oman has been omitted.
Hapag-Lloyd one of multiple container shipping companies that scrapped port calls to Karachi last year following the restriction of direct port access between India and Pakistan. In the time since, the ocean carrier has been moving Pakistan cargo via Salalah by using feeder capacity.
The Port of Salalah resumed operations Tuesday.
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) recently unveiled a Southeast Asia-to-Indian subcontinent service that give the liner its first dedicated route linking Southeast Asia with India’s west coast and Pakistan. The service will launch April 26, and will include the Port of Karachi on a loop with several major transshipment hubs including the Port of Singapore and Malaysia’s Port Klang.
With activity in the Strait of Hormuz grinding to a near halt, United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is predicting a sharp slowdown in global trade. While the intergovernmental body measured 4.7 percent growth in 2025, it now expects that number to sink to a growth range of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent in 2026.
