Fujairah is getting a new DP World port as the UAE’s Hormuz hedge takes shape

DP World is in talks to build a new multipurpose port along Fujairah’s coastline and a separate container terminal at the emirate’s existing harbor, Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter. That’s the latest piece in the puzzle for Fujairah, which sits on the Gulf of Oman, outside Hormuz — meaning it’s getting much more attention (and investment) these days.

What’s on the table: The Dubai-based port operator is discussing a term sheet with government officials, though ownership and financing haven't been finalized. A senior company official told the salmon-colored paper that the new port could be built within 18 months, with an initial investment in the hundreds of mns of USD, rising as capacity is added.

REFRESHER- The UAE is zeroing in on maintaining zero reliance on the strait — peace agreement or not. Foreign Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi said the UAE is working on a new harbor to sit alongside the Eastern ports of Dibba, Fujairah, and Khor Fakkan, along with new pipelines and wider rail and road networks to eliminate its dependence on the strait.

The move helps create redundancy and “cuts exposure in stress-test scenarios,” former head of supply chain and transport industries at the World Economic Forum Wolfgang Lehmacher tells EnterpriseAM.

Yes, but that doesn’t erase the risk, Lehmacher says. His view is that new Gulf ports — Fujairah included — need to be judged as resilience assets, not just by throughput numbers: a route or a port can itself become a target or get constrained, so a bypass only counts if shippers and insurers actually trust it under stress. His practical test comes down to three questions: can high-value cargo move through east-coast gateways at a reasonable cost when Hormuz isn’t safe; do customs and data systems allow fast rerouting without getting stuck in red tape; and are security arrangements solid enough for a risk committee to sign off?

The war exposed the vulnerability

Daily traffic through the strait struggled to rise above 40 vessels since it briefly reopened following the interim ceasefire agreement — down from nearly 135 vessels per day before the war — and has fallen back to a trickle after renewed attacks on shipping over the past week. Jebel Ali and Fujairah were also affected early in the war when falling debris from intercepted missiles caused fire at the ports.

The financial hit: Moody’s expects the conflict to push DP World’s earnings down to some USD 5.9 bn this year, from USD 6.6 bn last year. Activity at Jebel Ali — the region’s largest container hub — plunged by 90-95% after the strait was closed, sources told the news outlet. IMF PortWatch data indicate that the port calls have declined sharply since the start of the conflict. Shipments have since been diverted through Fujairah and Sharjah’s Khor Fakkan port, leaving both east-coast facilities heavily congested.

The scale is what makes this a shift: Jebel Ali handled 15.6 mn TEUs last year and sits at the center of the emirate’s role as a logistics and re-export hub, particularly for trade between China and Africa. It is also surrounded by a sprawling freezone, warehouses, and heavy industrial facilities developed over decades.

That means Fujairah is a hedge, not a replacement: DP World sources said there were no plans to downsize Jebel Ali, whose broader logistics and industrial ecosystem cannot simply be reproduced on the east coast. Still, Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensesn expects the disruption’s impact on the port to be “significant and permanent,” the news outlet reports.

REMEMBER- Fujairah already serves as the UAE’s principal energy bypass around Hormuz. Abu Dhabi exports crude through the emirate using its cross-country pipeline, while Adnoc relies on Fujairah for ship-to-ship transfers to bypass the strait.

Plan B is the new Plan A

Our take: At the beginning of the war, we asked whether Gulf ports outrun geography. Our answer was no — we argued that capacity alone could not solve a geopolitical access problem. Instead, we expected capacity built outside the chokepoints and stitched to Gulf markets by land: cargo shifting through Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, Sohar, and Jeddah, then moving on by road. That's what happened — though the workarounds have their own limits, with transit times and costs climbing and none of the alternative ports built to Jebel Ali's scale. DP World is now trying to turn that improvised rerouting into permanent infrastructure.

What to look for: DP World securing regular calls from major shipping lines and building the supporting network around the port; the project’s planned TEU capacity and whether it can narrow the east coast’s scale gap; and carrier behavior after Hormuz eventually stabilizes.