AD Ports rewires Gulf trade flows

AD Ports Group says it has kept operations running normally through the Gulf supply chain disruption that began at the end of February, using its integrated network to reroute cargo across land, rail, sea and air as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained severely constrained. The Abu Dhabi-based operator said on April 16 that it had shifted volumes through Fujairah Terminals and Khor Fakkan Port, activated business continuity protocols and launched feeder services to preserve the flow of goods, particularly food, medicines and other essential supplies.

The group said it had handled more than 54,000 TEUs at Fujairah Terminals and Khor Fakkan Port since the disruption began, while moving more than 22,000 containers through land logistics services and a further 18,000 TEUs across its maritime network. It added that more than 8,000 tonnes of cargo had been transported by air through over 100 chartered flights, with 24 vessels deployed across eight feeder services and plans to add more capacity. Chief executive Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi described the response as one of the country’s biggest logistics redeployments, arguing that years of investment in ports, shipping, logistics and industrial infrastructure had allowed the company to react quickly.

Those claims come against a backdrop of deep disruption in one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. Reuters reported on April 9 that shipping traffic through Hormuz had fallen to well below 10 per cent of normal volumes, with only seven vessels passing through in a 24-hour period against a usual level of about 140. The same report said hundreds of tankers and other ships had been stranded inside the Gulf since the war began on February 28, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards directed ships to use a route near Larak Island because of mine risks in the usual lanes.

That squeeze has altered the commercial logic of Gulf logistics. Fujairah, just outside the strait and usually one of the region’s key bunkering hubs, saw marine fuel sales collapse in March to 158,852 cubic metres, the lowest level in records going back to 2021, according to Reuters. Volumes were down more than 70 per cent from February and from the same month a year earlier. Traders told Reuters that demand had shifted to other bunkering centres, including Singapore, while risk and disrupted cargo supply chains curbed activity at Fujairah and nearby Khor Fakkan.

For AD Ports, the disruption has become a test of whether the diversification strategy it has pursued over the past several years can deliver under pressure. The company has built itself into a five-cluster group spanning ports, economic cities and free zones, maritime, logistics and digital services. It reported record 2025 revenue of about AED 20.8 billion and net profit of roughly AED 2.1 billion, with management pointing to contributions from ports, maritime and industrial zones. That broader footprint now gives it options that a pure port operator would lack, including inland trucking, feeder shipping, warehousing and chartered air cargo.

The company’s latest statement also reflects a wider policy theme in the Gulf, where governments and strategic operators have been pushing to build more resilient supply chains after repeated shocks, from the pandemic to Red Sea attacks and now the Hormuz crisis. By shifting cargo to eastern seaboard facilities and then moving it inland or onward by feeder vessel, companies can limit dependence on a single route. That does not eliminate higher costs, insurance pressure or delays, but it can reduce the risk of outright shortages for critical goods.

Still, resilience does not mean immunity. The Reuters reporting from April 9 made clear that even with a ceasefire in place, most shipping lines remained cautious and the backlog would take time to unwind. The same dispatch said physical oil prices had surged and the wider disruption had cut global oil supply by about a fifth. Separate Reuters reporting on Fujairah underlined how war risk and damaged infrastructure had already changed vessel behaviour, reducing port calls and constraining fuel availability. For logistics groups, that means contingency planning must coexist with volatile economics.

AD Ports’ response matters beyond Abu Dhabi because the company sits at a junction between regional trade flows and state-backed industrial policy. Khalifa Port remains one of the UAE’s central gateways, while the group’s international expansion and network of terminals and trade corridors have made it a more consequential player in linking Gulf cargo to the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and markets farther afield. Its April 16 disclosure suggests the company is trying to turn those assets into a practical buffer during a crisis, not merely a long-term growth story.