Trade, besides logistics, flows across India, the Middle East and Africa and is being shaped by continued geopolitical uncertainty. Additionally, there is operational pressure across key maritime corridors. This situation occurs alongside strong seasonal export demand and a growing interest in more flexible inland and warehousing networks. Uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz and variable vessel waiting times besides high yard density at several regional ports continue to affect predictability. This is occurring while agricultural export seasons in East Africa, along with evolving corridor conditions across West Africa, are increasing pressure on equipment, trucking, and gateway capacity. Maersk’s responding through network reconfiguration. Additionally, Maersk is implementing alternative gateways, multimodal routing, capacity planning, and closer operational monitoring. Customer may continue to plan for variable lead times. Furthermore, provide early visibility of anticipated volumes; sustain routing flexibility; and engage their Maersk representatives on the most suitable options as conditions evolve.
Ocean
The operating environment remains uncertain. This uncertainty is due to developments around the Strait of Hormuz continuing to affect operations across the Middle East. This situation is also creating ripple effects at ports in other parts of the region. Vessel waiting times may vary across IMEA. The most significant delays are presently affecting Tema as well as Abidjan. There’s high yard density in Colombo and Salalah as well as Jeddah, which is putting pressure on operations. To sustain cargo moving, Maersk has reconfigured its networks. Additionally, Maersk has rerouted its vessels and introduced alternative gateways. These changes are being done while prioritising the transportation of essential goods such as food and medicine. Maersk has also resumed transiting the Suez Canal on the AE15 and MECL besides WAF6 services. Additional trans-Suez sailings are likely to be considered if security thresholds continue to be met. However, such a move may not represent a full return of the East-West network to the trans-Suez corridor. Safety and cargo integrity, besides network stability, remain central to every routing decision. The customer may continue to receive updates as conditions evolve.
Update on logistics & services
Western Africa
In the West, besides Central Africa, the manner in which goods are transported overland is being shaped by increasing volatility in trade corridors. Trucks, cargo, and customers are shifting between gateways due to congestion, security conditions, border restrictions, seasonal road conditions, and differences in rates. Capacities remain manageable. The market’s becoming less predictable and needs more multi-gateway planning. Also, secured capacity and improved operational visibility, besides quicker responses to changes in the corridors. Maersk is therefore strengthening its alternative-gateway strategy for key inland markets. This is with an immediate focus on Mali besides congestion in Dakar and disruption to vessel schedules in Abidhan. Also, continued security uncertainty along the Dakar-Barnako corridor has reinforced the requirement for enhanced routing diversity. In the meantime, Tema’s operational stability, besides commitment to serving landlocked markets, is making it an increasingly relevant option for transit cargo. Alongside stronger partnerships with transport providers, continuous monitoring of transit times, security, and customs processes besides equipment availability as well as enhanced visibility through the Customs Control Tower, Maersk is developing contingency plans that permit cargo to be rerouted when disruptions occur. Maersk’s assessing the main corridors serving Mali in terms of ports besides terminal performance. Also, schedule reliability, inland capacity, border & customs processes, security, and transit time as well as total logistics costs. These assessments may inform routing recommendations aligned with each customer’s priorities. Whilst conditions evolve, customers are encouraged to engage with their Maersk representatives, as corridor volatility’s likely to remain a structural feature of the regional market. This makes flexible routing and end-to-end visibility, besides proactive exception management, increasingly important to supply chain resilience.
East Africa
The logistics market in East Africa remained active throughout July ’26. It was driven by robust demand for agricultural exports across Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania. In Kenya, the increased demand for avocado exports has led to higher demand for reefer equipment, trucking & vessel space.
