Oman's Port of Salalah is experiencing severe yard congestion, with container yard density reaching 84% and berthing delays extending up to 36 hours, according to Hapag-Lloyd's Middle East operational update for Week 44 of 2026 . The advisory, last updated on 30 October 2026, states that the high yard density is directly impacting terminal productivity, creating a bottleneck that affects vessel turnaround times and onward cargo connections .
The congestion at Salalah represents a significant operational challenge for a port that has become an increasingly critical node in regional supply chains. As disruption around the Strait of Hormuz has redirected cargo flows toward alternative gateways, Salalah has absorbed volumes beyond its normal operating parameters. The port's strategic location on the Arabian Sea, outside the Strait itself, has made it a natural diversion point for carriers seeking to avoid the most disrupted maritime segment while maintaining connections to inland destinations and onward services.
The pressure at Salalah is not an isolated phenomenon. Hapag-Lloyd's advisory and industry reports indicate that congestion is spreading across multiple regional gateways. At Sohar, also in Oman, vessels are facing waits of two to three days . At Saudi Arabia's Jeddah port, container yards are operating at 76% density, with longer container collection and truck turnaround times reported . The pattern suggests that the region's alternative ports are collectively straining under the weight of diverted cargo, even as the primary hubs of Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi remain constrained by their proximity to the Strait.
The timeline of Salalah's congestion shows a clear deterioration over recent months. Hapag-Lloyd's Week 39 update, from late September 2026, reported yard density at 72% . By Week 43, in mid-October, the figure had risen to 84% . The Week 44 update confirmed that the 84% density had persisted, indicating that the port has not been able to clear the backlog despite weeks of elevated volumes . This trajectory suggests that the underlying drivers of congestion—diverted cargo, schedule disruption, and constrained onward transport capacity—remain unresolved.
The operational consequences of 84% yard density are significant for shippers and carriers alike. At such levels, terminal operators face difficulty in efficiently stacking and retrieving containers, which lengthens the time trucks spend waiting at the gate and reduces the speed at which import containers can be evacuated. For transshipment cargo, the challenge is compounded: containers awaiting connecting vessels must be stored in the yard, consuming space that would otherwise be available for import discharge. Berthing delays of up to 36 hours mean vessels arriving at Salalah cannot be assured of a prompt berth, adding uncertainty to schedules that are already stretched by rerouting and extended transit times.
The congestion at Salalah and other regional ports forms part of a broader pattern of record-level Middle East port congestion. Linerlytica and other industry analysts have described the situation as reaching record highs, with vessels waiting over a week at key gateways and the region continuing to attract additional vessel capacity despite softening freight rates elsewhere . The concentration of congestion at alternative gateways—Khorfakkan, Fujairah, Salalah, Sohar, and Jeddah—reflects the structural nature of the disruption: cargo is being pushed through ports that were not designed to handle current volumes, and the resulting bottlenecks are spreading rather than resolving.
For the logistics sector, Salalah's situation underscores the vulnerability of contingency routings. The port's role as an alternative to Strait-adjacent gateways has made it indispensable to current supply chain configurations, but its capacity constraints mean that shippers cannot assume that diversion equals resolution. With yard density at 84% and no indication of imminent relief, stakeholders should anticipate continued delays for cargo moving through Salalah and should factor additional transit buffers into their planning. The port's ability to restore productivity will depend on whether vessel arrivals can be smoothed and whether onward transport connections—whether feeder services, trucking to inland destinations, or connections to Suez-bound services—can keep pace with discharge volumes.