Overview
- Security fears spiked after Monday’s drone strike that set fires at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and after the IRGC published a map claiming wider control along the UAE’s east coast, though shipping trackers said both ports kept working Tuesday.
- Throughput has surged since the Hormuz shutdown, with Fujairah crude exports up about 38% to roughly 1.62 million barrels per day and Khor Fakkan’s weekly container moves jumping to about 50,000 from 2,000.
- Khor Fakkan has turned into a main intake for everyday goods such as groceries and medical supplies, and Gulftainer says daily truck moves climbed from about 100 before the war to roughly 7,000, creating heavy but manageable congestion.
- Fujairah’s role rests on the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline, which can move about 1.5–1.8 million barrels per day to the Indian Ocean, plus major storage and a Vitol-linked refinery, yet this setup cannot replace the Gulf’s lost seaborne capacity.
- Industry data reported by Iranian state media says major shipping lines paused Hormuz transits, and with Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain stuck behind the strait, reliance on the UAE’s east-coast gateways has grown as Iran pushes overland and rail corridors.