‘Ocean freight rates will come down eventually, we have seen this before’: DP World COO

Dubai: Global ocean freight rates will decline eventually, with the current surge in shipping costs unlikely to sustain in the long term, said Abdulla Al Hashimi, global chief operating officer, parks & economic zones at DP World. The Dubai-based port operator rerouted major shipping lines through India to keep trade moving along the India-UAE corridor amid the widespread logistical disruptions caused by the US-Iran war.

"Eventually, freight rates will have to come down," said Al Hashimi at a media interaction. "We have seen this before. This is not the first time a critical waterway has been blocked. It happened during the Red Sea crisis, during the piracy incidents in 2012, and also during Covid. Ocean freight rates increased during those periods but eventually came down."

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Following the disruption, DP World diverted ships originally bound for the Gulf to its terminals at Mundra, Nhava Sheva, and Kochi.

"We diverted some major shipping lines to offload cargo destined for the UAE and Southeast Asia," said Al Hashimi. We then deployed our feedering capabilities."

The network connects Southeast Asia, India, and Colombo with the UAE's eastern ports of Khor Fakkan and Fujairah. To move cargo overland into southern and central Emirates from the east coast, DP World bought more than 700 trucks over the last eight months and coordinated more than 800,000 containers overland.

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He said Dubai has remained resilient throughout the conflict, highlighting that India is an important partner with a strong and growing presence of Indian companies in the Emirate. New routes provided Indian cargo owners with expanded, alternative ways to bypass maritime bottlenecks, he said.

"Dubai has been the world's number one destination for greenfield FDI projects for five years running," said Al Hashimi. "India is central to that story. Our two new terminals in Fujairah extend the Jebel Ali ecosystem and give Indian cargo owners more routes into the region."

Al Hashimi said despite regional geopolitical strains, DP World's flagship Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) attracted AED 1 billion ($272.26 million) in new investments in the first half of the year, leasing out 13.2 million square feet. "If you look at the split between pre-war and post-war activity, 52% came after the disruption began," he said.

Indian businesses are increasingly looking at Dubai not just as an export market but as a base to expand into other regions. India-Dubai non-oil bilateral trade touched $60.6 billion in 2025, up 15%.

According to data shared by DP World, more than 270 new Indian companies started operations in JAFZA in the first half of 2026, recording a 15.6% growth.