CMA CGM has resumed export and import bookings for Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, restoring services that were suspended on 3 March as regional tensions disrupted shipping operations.
To keep cargo moving despite ongoing constraints, the French carrier is deploying a network of land bridges, feeder vessels and trucking links to connect the Gulf with global trade routes.
Under the revised arrangements, cargo from Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain can move through a Sohar corridor via feeder services to Khalifa before crossing a bonded land bridge to Sohar in Oman, while shipments from the UAE can also be routed to Sohar by road.
An alternative corridor channels cargo through Jeddah using feeder links or trucks to a bonded land bridge serving destinations including Dammam and the wider Gulf. For Iraq-bound shipments, additional land bridge routes are available southwards through Aqaba in Jordan or northwards through Mersin in Türkiye.
Import flows into the region have also resumed using similar multimodal solutions. Cargo can enter through Jeddah and move across bonded land bridges to key destinations across the Gulf, including Dammam, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.
Shipments destined for the UAE are being routed via hubs such as Khor Fakkan, Fujairah and Sohar before moving inland to Khalifa or Jebel Ali, while cargo bound for upper Gulf markets is channelled through the same hubs before onward feeder connections.
The solutions cover dry, frozen and in-gauge cargo. While carrier haulage will depend on space availability, CMA CGM said customers can also arrange merchant haulage directly from major hubs such as Jeddah and Sohar.