MSC Land Bridge Monitor
Monitoring the Sea-Land-Sea bypass of the Strait of Hormuz
MSC, Mediterranean Shipping Company, has announced a new land bridge as an alternative to Hormuz which is blocked. First sailing is scheduled for May 10 from Antwerp. Ships will cross the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and visit two ports on the western coast of Saudi Arabia - Jeddah and King Abdullah. Source.
From there, trucks will move to Dammam on the Persian Gulf, where they will be loaded onto smaller feeder vessels for onward transport to ports in the UAE and India. This avoids both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, providing a relevant alternative route (but costs more time and money).
We track the Inflow/Outflow (arrivals and departures) at both Jeddah/KAP and Dammam to measure the flow through this bypass. Data observed before the land route becomes effective serves as our baseline for normal trade.
See the image of scheduled trade route below:
Last Sync: ---
Red Sea In (Import)
---
Dammam Out (Import)
---
Dammam In (Export)
---
Red Sea Out (Export)
---
Persian Gulf Import
Red Sea arrivals → Dammam departures (eastbound)
Persian Gulf Export
Dammam arrivals → Red Sea departures (westbound)