Cosco Shipping has issued its latest response regarding the impact of the Middle East conflict, stating that it has no current plans to resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

On April 9, Cosco Shipping held its 2025 Annual Results Briefing. The company stated that the container shipping capacity deployed on Middle East routes accounts for a relatively small proportion of total global capacity, and the spillover effects from the regional situation are, on the whole, fairly limited. For the company itself, revenue generated from these affected routes represents a small portion of total revenue, and the impact on the revenue side currently appears to be relatively contained.

The company had previously issued a customer advisory on March 4, suspending new booking services for relevant Middle East routes. Subsequently, to meet customer freight demand for this trade lane, the company updated its Middle East service offerings on March 25, resuming new booking services (standard containers) from the Far East to Middle Eastern countries—including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and Oman—via multimodal transshipment solutions.

Specifically, local cargo for Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali may be transported via bonded land bridge from either Khor Fakkan or Fujairah. Cargo destined for upstream Gulf countries may be moved from Khor Fakkan or Fujairah via bonded land bridge to CSP Abu Dhabi, where it connects to the company's own feeder network hub at CSP Abu Dhabi for onward transshipment to other parts of the UAE, as well as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq. Cargo for Oman is transshipped via Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) in Mumbai, India, to Sohar, Oman.

Cosco Shipping noted that while overall market demand is gradually recovering, the aforementioned new booking arrangements and actual transportation plans remain subject to change given the uncertain situation in the Middle East. The company currently has no plans to resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Looking ahead, the company stated that it will leverage strategic hubs such as the Port of Chancay in Peru, the Port of Piraeus in Greece, and the Port of Abu Dhabi to accelerate the deployment of a global network of mainline and feeder services, while simultaneously expediting the development of matching inland collection and distribution system capabilities. Concurrently, it will focus on enhancing the service capacity of key hub terminals—including Chancay Terminal in Peru, Piraeus Terminal, and Abu Dhabi Terminal—to improve feeder network configuration and amplify route aggregation effects.

At present, Cosco Shipping's dual-brand operations encompass a total of 308 international routes (including international feeder services), 62 China coastal routes, and 85 feeder routes serving the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, collectively calling at 654 ports across approximately 146 countries and regions worldwide. As of the end of 2025, the company's dual-brand owned container fleet comprised 590 vessels with a total capacity of approximately 3.6 million TEU, with owned and bareboat-chartered tonnage together accounting for 75% of total capacity.