FUJAIRAH — The United Arab Emirates plans to build a new port and container terminal in the city of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. The project is designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen near-total disruption of maritime transit due to regional conflict.

The new terminal will be led by DP World, the UAE-based global port operator. Fujairah currently has an existing harbor but lacks the infrastructure needed to function as a major export hub. The development aims to reduce Dubai’s dependence on the Jebel Ali hub located in the Persian Gulf, offering an alternative maritime corridor on the country’s eastern seaboard.

Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz has become increasingly perilous amid conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. Attacks against commercial ships, the deployment of marine mines, and active fighting in the area have nearly halted transit through the strategic waterway. The new Fujairah port is intended to provide a reliable alternative route for cargo and energy exports that avoids the chokepoint altogether.

The UAE also plans to upgrade port infrastructure at Dibba and Khor Fakkan, two other coastal cities on the Gulf of Oman. These enhancements complement the Fujairah project by strengthening the UAE’s overall maritime capacity along its eastern coastline. Fujairah City, the capital of the Emirate of Fujairah, is the seventh-largest city in the UAE and the only emirate capital situated on the country’s east coast.

Amid these developments, regional diplomatic dynamics are shifting. Samantha Sutton, a Fellow at the Atlantic Council and former Director at the U.S. National Security Council, said the current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is not driving Gulf states to embrace Israel’s role in the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative. “I think that after the war, these countries now view Israel more like a liability than a partner,” she said.

Sutton added that while other regions involved in IMEC—such as India—maintain strong relations with Israel, recent conflict has damaged Israel’s standing in the Middle East. “And while in other regions involved in the initiative there are great relations with Israel, like in India, I don’t think the last war helped to improve the image of Israel in the Middle East,” she said. She suggested that broader regional inclusion could bolster support for the corridor: “I believe that if IMEC helps establish normalization with Palestinians, and includes in some way the West Bank and Gaza, then the project and Israel’s participation would have much more support.”

Why It Matters

The UAE’s port expansion reflects a strategic effort to insulate its trade and energy flows from escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply has historically transited. With maritime traffic nearly halted due to attacks and military activity, alternative routes are becoming critical for regional stability and global commerce.

The India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, which envisions a transport and digital link from India to Europe via the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Greece, is unfolding against this volatile backdrop. However, as Sutton’s remarks indicate, geopolitical friction may complicate efforts to integrate the initiative across all proposed participants, particularly in the absence of broader regional normalization.