Many shipping companies announced: port changes, emergency sailing adjustments, all costs and risks are borne by the customer
Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~
The situation in Iran and the Middle East has been escalating for a week. As traffic risks in the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters continue, many shipping companies have successively issued emergency operational adjustments and force majeure declarations. Shipping companies such as Evergreen Line, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, Wan Hai Lines, and RCL have all announced the suspension or adjustment of some Middle East routes, and implemented measures to reroute or unload cargo at alternate ports.
At the same time, companies generally emphasized in their announcements that all additional costs and related risks arising from port changes, demurrage, warehousing, transshipment, etc. will be borne by the cargo owner or shipper.
At the market level, rising risks have also begun to be transmitted to costs and prices. Affected by factors such as route adjustments, rising insurance costs, fuel price fluctuations and increased surcharges, container freight rates have rebounded in the past week.
The latest data shows that the Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) rose 11.7% to 1,489.19 points last week; the Drewry World Containerized Freight Index (WCI) rebounded by 3.1% after falling for seven consecutive weeks. In this context, "force majeure"" is becoming a frequently appearing keyword in the field of shipping and trade under the current crisis in the Middle East.
Evergreen stated that due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, the current market situation has been beyond the company's control, so it has officially declared "force majeure" in accordance with Article 21 of the sea waybill.
According to its arrangement, goods whose original port of departure or destination involves Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Ain Soukna in Egypt, Djibouti and Sudan will be shipped toAlternate port unloading.
Evergreen also clearly pointed out that the relevant issues arising after the goods are unloaded at the alternate portRisks and Fees, all composed ofShipper's responsibility. The company also recommends that customers pick up the goods at an alternate port as soon as possible to avoid further additional costs; if they need to change their destination, they need to go through the local agent and bear the relevant expenses themselves.
Judging from the content of the announcement, CMA CGM has initiated emergency measures including ship diversion, emergency port unloading and other operational adjustments for cargo related to major ports in the Middle East such as Umm Qasr Port in Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and made it clear that these arrangements will be implemented in accordance with force majeure clauses.
CMA CGM also offers customers three processing options:
-
Emergency port delivery: unload and deliver at temporary port
-
Land transportation: Delivery by road or rail to destination (subject to conditions)
-
Change of Destination (COD): Rerouting cargo to another port
But no matter which plan is adopted, CMA CGM has written down the boundaries of responsibility very clearly: the resulting demurrage fees, container detention fees, port processing fees, warehousing fees, port change fees and transshipment fees, etc.All borne by the customer.
On March 6, 2026, COSCO Shipping issued a notice to implement emergency disposal of goods in 6 countries and ports (excluding some ports) including Iraq and Qatar. Among them,M/V CSCL GLOBE 074WThe goods will be transferred to OmanUnloading cargo at Sohar Port.
Costs and Risks: After the goods are unloaded, the carrier's responsibility ceases. The cargo owner must arrange for the delivery of the goods by itself and bear all costs and risks incurred after unloading, including port fees, storage fees, short-term barge fees, demurrage fees and other additional charges. If you need to change the destination port, return or continue transportation, related operationsCosts and RisksAlsoborne by the cargo owner.
Wanhai Shipping issued a notice on March 5 stating that the company has initiated necessary emergency response measures for cargo related to countries and ports in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia (Dammam Port, Jubail Port), Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.
These measures include: adjusting ship sailing plans based on actual conditions, unloading cargo at alternate ports when necessary, and adjusting subsequent operational arrangements based on on-site conditions.
Wan Hai specifically emphasized that all the above actions are performed in accordance with Article 9 of the company's bill of lading and the applicable force majeure clause. All costs incurred, including port diversion charges, demurrage charges, loading and unloading charges, transshipment charges and other related operating expenses, shall be borne by the customer. If there are additional charges such as security surcharges and emergency surcharges, they must also be included in theComplete settlement before goods are released.
Regional container shipping company RCL also issued two emergency notices to customers, announcing that some voyages would end early due to the escalating conflict in the Middle East and rising shipping security risks. These include:
-
MSC SIMONA (voyage FK603A) - the end of Khorfakkan voyage
-
MSC RUBY (voyage FK604A) - End of Khorfakkan voyage
-
Folk Dammam (voyage IG2609W-32) - End of Sohar voyage
RCL said the move was an emergency measure due to market volatility and uncontrollable factors. In terms of fees, the company announced: levy on all affected containers0 mandatory surcharge, used to cover additional costs caused by route deviations and operational interruptions.
In addition, all costs associated with emergency unloading—including, but not limited to, port handling charges, container handling charges, warehousing charges, ancillary port charges and other operating expenses—areThe cargo owner bears all costs and risks, and must comply with the terms and conditions of the bill of lading,No exemption from surcharges.
In addition, on March 6, European shipping giantMaersk,Hapag-LloydannounceComprehensive suspension of major routes in the Middle East, including inter-regional routes and regional shuttle routes between the Middle East and Europe and the Far East, no recovery timetable has been announced yet. The goods that have been booked will be changed to a different port or unbooked, and the unbooking fee will be borne by the cargo owner.
Judging from the current notices issued by major shipping companies, in the context of the continued deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East, measures such as route suspension, port relocation, unloading, and voyage termination are becoming common choices in the industry.
Moreover, each shipping company emphasized in its statement that after the force majeure clause is applied, the additional costs and risks arising from route adjustments will be borne by the cargo owner or shipper.
For relevant trading companies, timely attention to notifications from shipping companies and formulating cargo transshipment or delivery plans as soon as possible will become important measures to reduce logistics risks and costs.
