Gemini restarts its Asia–Gulf loop into a congested Khor Fakkan

Gemini sends its Asia–Gulf loop back into Khor Fakkan, the port that is already full
On 17 October the 8,400 teu Maersk Athabasca leaves Qingdao. Teu, or twenty-foot equivalent unit, is the standard measure of container capacity. Its departure restarts the Far East–Middle East service run by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, the two carriers in the Gemini Cooperation. Maersk markets the service as FM1 and Hapag-Lloyd as AGX. It was suspended on 27 March, more than six months ago. The Athabasca is due at Khor Fakkan on 16 November.
The big change is the Gulf port. The old loop called at Jebel Ali in Dubai. The new one does not. The Loadstar reports the new rotation as Qingdao, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Khor Fakkan, Singapore, then back to Qingdao. Khor Fakkan is on the UAE’s east coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz. Since the US-Iran war disrupted shipping through the strait, it has become a key bypass port for the Gulf.
Our view is that this gives the Gulf more ship capacity and no more port capacity. Shippers get back a direct mainline service from China and Southeast Asia. That service lands at a terminal that is already congested and short of trucks. Forwarders should treat the relaunch as one more option, not as a fix.

A port that grew eightfold in months

The volume figures show how hard Khor Fakkan is working. According to Drewry, cited by The Loadstar, Gulftainer’s weekly throughput at Khor Fakkan rose from about 8,000 teu to 65,000 teu. Gulftainer is the port’s operator, and it is targeting 100,000 teu a week.
Gulftainer chief executive Farid Belbouab gave the same picture in an interview with AGBI. That article put pre-crisis volumes at about 8,000 containers a week, now about 65,000. Daily truck movements went from about 100 to about 8,500, with capacity expanded to 12,000 a day. AGBI reported that annual terminal capacity was being raised from 3.5 million teu to 5 million teu within three months. It also reported a three-year plan to pass 10 million teu, and inland logistics parks at Al Dhaid and Sajaa with 2.3 million teu of capacity. “Of course, the crisis has accelerated that vision,” Belbouab told AGBI.
That is a large build-out. But capacity coming online over months does not cover a surge that arrived in weeks. In April, a news update on Kuehne+Nagel’s myKN platform already reported that “Khor Al-Fakkan is reported to be facing heavy congestion, with waiting times reaching about a week in most cases”. Six months later the pressure has not gone away.

What the carriers and forwarders are saying now

Maersk has told customers: “The FM1 re-launch provides customers with additional direct ocean connectivity to Khor Fakkan,” The Loadstar reported. The same notice added: “Existing booking restrictions and cargo acceptance guidelines remain applicable.” In other words, the service is back, but the limits on what Maersk will take into the Gulf still apply.
Maersk is also open about the strain at the port. It cites “Vessel congestion and limited berth availability at Khor Fakkan”, along with high yard use and truck delays, which it says are delaying cargo clearance. It is moving some boxes to an inland depot at Sajja and considering sending some shipments to Jebel Ali instead, according to The Loadstar’s 14 October report.
Kuehne+Nagel says Khor Fakkan and Fujairah are “taking on a lot of the volumes shifted to ports outside the Strait of Hormuz in recent months”. The Loadstar calls the two ports the “main pressure points in the region”. Kuehne+Nagel adds: “we expect Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to remain under significant pressure in the coming weeks”.
Expeditors is calmer. It says “UAE gateways remain largely unaffected and outside the Strait risk area”, while noting that Khor Fakkan and Fujairah are “showing signs of congestion”. The two views fit together. The ports are open and working, but they are full.

Rates already at record levels

Freight costs show the same strain. Container Trades Statistics (CTS) reported that its Asia–Middle East price index hit a record high in August, up 130% year on year, according to The Loadstar.
Xeneta’s spot rate data from early September showed rates to Khor Fakkan up 479% since 28 February, reaching $10,626 per 40ft container. Xeneta chief analyst Peter Sand said “spot rates on these trades surpass previous record highs set during the Covid disruption”. He added that “shippers have little other option to get their goods into the Gulf region.”
That last point matters. When shippers have no real alternative, prices stay high. Extra ships alone will not bring them down if the bottleneck is on land.

The real bottleneck is the truck, not the ship

Most cargo landing at Khor Fakkan is not for Khor Fakkan. It has to cross the mountains to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, or travel further to the upper Gulf. Hapag-Lloyd’s July booking update showed how long that chain has become. Cargo for Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar and Bahrain lands at Fujairah or Khor Fakkan and then goes by landbridge to Jebel Ali or Sharjah to meet feeder ships. Container News reported that “bonded transport between Fujairah/Khorfakkan and Jebel Ali/Sharjah is expected to take around five days.” Bonded means the goods move under customs control with duty not yet paid. The same report said the feeders “will not operate on a fixed weekly schedule”.
The overland network is already carrying a lot. In late August, DP World said it had moved 500,000 teu through Gulf overland corridors since the beginning of March, The Loadstar reported. That is a large volume for roads that were never meant to be the main entry route into the Gulf.
This is not new. The UAE has been the main release valve since the spring. A Kuehne+Nagel news update in April, drawing on project44 and Journal of Commerce reporting, said the United Arab Emirates took 42% of all diversions in the first weeks of that month. Carriers have spent the months since building workarounds: shuttle loops, landbridges, inland depots. The FM1/AGX relaunch puts a direct Asia mainline call back on top of all of that, at the same port.
Trucks are the scarce part. Forwarders told The Loadstar that haulage capacity was being “hoovered up” by “forwarders with the biggest pockets, rather than shipments with the most need”.
The relaunch also uses a smaller first ship. The old loop ran eight vessels averaging 10,900 teu, according to The Loadstar. The opening sailing is 8,400 teu. The reports do not say how many ships the new loop will use. Each call will still drop several thousand boxes onto a terminal and a trucking pool that are already stretched.

What forwarders should do now

First, quote the inland leg separately. Khor Fakkan to Dubai, or Khor Fakkan to Jebel Ali for feeder connection, is now a real cost and time risk. Do not bury it in an all-in rate.
Second, sort out free time before the box sails. Free time is the number of days a container can sit at the port or with the customer before storage and detention charges start. Agree with the shipper who pays if the box waits for a truck. Check whether the carrier’s Sajja depot move changes where and when charges start.
Third, keep a Jebel Ali option open. Maersk is already considering sending some shipments there. Shippers whose cargo is going to Dubai anyway should ask whether a Jebel Ali routing, by feeder or relay, would arrive sooner than a Khor Fakkan discharge plus a truck queue.
Fourth, plan for longer transits. On the published schedule the Athabasca takes about 30 days from Qingdao to Khor Fakkan. Add port waiting time and five days or so of bonded trucking, and Dubai deliveries from northern China are close to six weeks door to door.
Fifth, watch Fujairah and the Omani ports. When one bypass port fills up, cargo moves to the next. Forwarders with agents in Fujairah and Sohar will have more routes to offer.

Our call

Our view is that the FM1/AGX relaunch will not ease Gulf congestion, and may add to it from mid-November.
Our prediction: by the end of November, within two weeks of the Athabasca’s 16 November arrival, Maersk or Hapag-Lloyd will move some FM1/AGX cargo on from Khor Fakkan to Jebel Ali by feeder or road, or will add an extra charge for Khor Fakkan deliveries. We also expect Xeneta’s Asia–Khor Fakkan spot rate to stay above $8,000 per 40ft container through the end of Q4 2026. It was $10,626 in early September. If either call proves wrong, the most likely reason is that Gulftainer’s added capacity and the Sajja inland depot have finally caught up with demand.

Sources

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• The Loadstar — Gemini to relaunch Asia-Middle East Loop, but drops Jebel Ali call, 13 Oct 2026 \
• The Loadstar — Gemini relaunch likely to add to congestion pressure at Khor Fakkan, 14 Oct 2026 \
• AGBI — Gulftainer accelerates expansion of Sharjah’s Khor Fakkan port \
• Kuehne+Nagel — Carriers shift trapped Hormuz vessels into regional shuttles as alternative hubs take centre stage, 21 Apr 2026 \
• Container News — Hapag-Lloyd reopens bookings to Upper Gulf via alternative routes, 29 Jul 2026