ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s leading maritime trade body has written a formal letter to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), demanding urgent changes to the country’s transhipment regulations — and arguing that the ongoing Middle East conflict has handed Pakistan a rare, time-sensitive opportunity to transform itself into a major regional maritime transhipment hub.
The Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association (PSAA), which represents global shipping giants including Maersk, COSCO, MSC, and CMA CGM — the companies that collectively carry 90 percent of Pakistan’s seaborne trade — has urged FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial to allow transhipment cargo to be stored at off-dock terminals. Currently, this is prohibited under existing customs rules, creating a serious bottleneck at Pakistan’s already-stretched port facilities.
The Middle East Crisis and Its Impact on Global Shipping
To understand why this moment matters so much for Pakistan, it is important to grasp how severely the Middle East conflict has upended global maritime trade.
Since February 28, 2026, escalating military hostilities involving the United States, Israel, and Iran have thrown the world’s most critical shipping corridors into chaos. The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies and a significant share of container trade passes — has become effectively inaccessible to commercial vessels.
Major shipping lines Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM have rerouted all vessels away from the Strait of Hormuz. Ships are now being diverted via the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10 to 15 extra days to voyage times. Jebel Ali Port in Dubai — one of the world’s busiest transhipment hubs — has severely disrupted operations after drone debris caused fires. The closure of UAE and Saudi Arabian airspace has compounded the crisis for logistics networks. Freight surcharges have soared, with overload charges reaching up to $4,000 per container.
The result: regional transhipment hubs that Pakistan’s trade depends on — particularly Jebel Ali and Khor Fakkan — are either inaccessible or operating at reduced capacity. Global cargo flows are being redirected in real time, and shipping lines are desperately searching for alternative transhipment points.
The Golden Opportunity for Pakistan
PSAA Chairman Muhammad Rajpar, in his letter to FBR, stated that the current regional disruption presents a “time-sensitive opportunity” for Pakistan to attract international transhipment cargo and develop its ports into bona fide regional transhipment centres.
Pakistan has two major ports — Karachi Port and Port Qasim — and the strategically critical deep-sea port at Gwadar, central to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Together, these facilities have the geographic positioning to serve as an alternative gateway for cargo that previously moved through Gulf ports.
However, the PSAA has been candid: the opportunity cannot be seized without immediate regulatory action. The current FBR customs framework simply does not permit transhipment cargo to be stored outside of on-dock terminal facilities — and those on-dock terminals are already operating at or near full capacity.
The Regulatory Barrier: What PSAA Is Asking FBR to Change
The core regulatory issue is straightforward. Under current FBR customs regulations, transhipment cargo can only be stored at on-dock port terminals. On-dock terminals at Karachi and Port Qasim are near full capacity, leaving no room for additional transhipment volumes. PSAA is requesting that FBR allow transhipment cargo to be stored at off-dock terminals, which have available space and infrastructure. The letter is addressed directly to FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial and stresses that the window for action is time-limited, as global shipping rerouting decisions are being made right now.
Off-dock terminals — also called inland container depots or dry ports — already exist in various locations connected to Pakistan’s main seaports. They have available storage capacity and the logistics infrastructure to handle containers. The only thing preventing their use for transhipment cargo is an FBR regulatory restriction written at a time when no one anticipated this kind of regional disruption.
Who Is PSAA and Why Does It Matter?
For Pakistani readers who may not be familiar with the PSAA, understanding its significance puts this demand in sharp perspective.
The Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association is the representative body for shipping line agents operating in Pakistan. Its member companies include global shipping giants: Maersk (Denmark), COSCO (China), MSC (Switzerland), CMA CGM (France), and approximately 50 other international carriers. These shipping lines collectively handle approximately 90 percent of Pakistan’s total seaborne trade. Pakistan’s total seaborne trade was valued at $90.4 billion in the last completed fiscal year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The remaining 10 percent — mostly crude oil — is handled by the state-run Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC).
In short: if PSAA’s member companies are unhappy, Pakistan’s imports and exports — from food commodities and raw materials to finished goods and textiles — are directly at risk. This is not a niche industry body; it is the gateway through which Pakistan connects to global commerce.
What’s at Stake for Pakistan’s Economy
The stakes of this moment extend well beyond the shipping industry. For ordinary Pakistanis, the outcome of this FBR decision could have tangible consequences.
If FBR acts swiftly, Pakistan could become a regional transhipment hub, earn significant foreign exchange from port fees, create jobs at ports and in the logistics sector, boost Pakistan’s maritime credibility globally, and support CPEC’s vision for Gwadar as a trade hub.
If FBR delays, cargo will be rerouted to competitor ports such as Colombo and Mundra, Pakistan will miss a rare window that may not reopen, on-dock congestion will worsen and hurt existing trade, freight costs will rise for Pakistani importers and exporters, and CPEC’s maritime potential will remain unrealised.
Gwadar, CPEC, and Pakistan’s Maritime Ambitions
This story also has a direct CPEC dimension. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was always envisioned to make Gwadar Port the beating heart of a new trade corridor linking western China to the Arabian Sea.
Experts and analysts have long argued that for CPEC to fulfil its potential, Pakistan must develop genuine maritime trade capacity — not just as a destination port but as a transhipment hub where international cargo is handled, redistributed, and forwarded. The current Middle East disruption provides an unexpected catalyst for this ambition — but only if regulatory frameworks keep pace.
Gwadar Port is strategically positioned along rerouted global shipping lanes. If FBR enables off-dock transhipment storage, Gwadar and Karachi could together attract the cargo volumes currently being diverted away from Jebel Ali and other Gulf hubs.
FBR’s Role — And Its Track Record With Shipping
This is not the first time the PSAA has had to engage the FBR on maritime trade issues. In a previous dispute, the FBR attempted to require non-resident foreign shipping firms to register on Pakistan’s national tax portal, obtain national tax numbers, and file tax returns — a move the PSAA called “ill-planned” and warned could cause “total disruption” to Pakistan’s imports and exports.
That episode demonstrated the tension between FBR’s revenue mandate and the practical realities of global maritime commerce. Shipping lines — which operate under international frameworks and serve dozens of countries simultaneously — cannot easily be subjected to domestic regulatory requirements that no other competing port nation imposes.
The current request is different in nature: it is not about tax exemptions but about removing a storage restriction that limits Pakistan’s physical capacity to handle cargo. The PSAA’s argument is that this regulatory change would bring revenue to Pakistan, not reduce it — by attracting transhipment fees, port charges, and associated economic activity.
How the Middle East Crisis Is Already Hitting Pakistani Trade
While the focus of the PSAA letter is on the opportunity for transhipment, Pakistani businesses are already feeling the pain of the regional disruption. Shipping delays of 10 to 15 additional days are being added to voyages rerouted via the Cape of Good Hope. Container freight rates have surged dramatically, increasing import costs for Pakistani businesses. Pakistan’s energy supply chains are under strain, with PARCO having to source crude oil via alternative routes. Textile exporters, who depend on timely ocean freight connections to European and US markets, face mounting uncertainty. The disruption at Jebel Ali — historically a key transhipment point for Pakistan-bound cargo — is causing delays across multiple supply chains.
As a net energy importer heavily dependent on Gulf oil, Pakistan’s economy faces immediate pressure from rising import bills and shipping costs. The PSAA’s proposal — if approved — would at least allow Pakistan to offset some of this pain by earning transhipment revenue rather than simply absorbing higher costs.
Why Pakistan Must Act Quickly
Maritime trade experts and port industry observers have consistently noted that transhipment hub status is not granted — it is won through competitive positioning, regulatory agility, and infrastructure investment. Countries like Sri Lanka, through Colombo Port, and India, through Mundra and Nhava Sheva, have aggressively developed their transhipment capacity over the past two decades.
Pakistan has consistently been left behind in this race — not because of geographic disadvantage, since Karachi’s position is excellent, but because of regulatory inflexibility and bureaucratic inertia. The PSAA’s letter to FBR Chairman Langrial is, in essence, a plea for Pakistan not to repeat that mistake during a moment when global shipping lanes are being redrawn in real time.
Global shipping lines are making routing decisions right now. Every week that FBR delays a response is a week in which cargo is diverted to Colombo, Mundra, or other competing hubs — and those commercial relationships, once established, are difficult to reverse.
Bottom Line
Pakistan is sitting at a rare crossroads. A devastating regional crisis has, paradoxically, opened a strategic opportunity for this country to punch above its weight in global maritime commerce. The ball is now in FBR’s court. A swift, pragmatic, and commercially-minded response could set Pakistan on a path toward becoming a genuine transhipment hub — creating jobs, earning foreign exchange, and strengthening the economic case for CPEC. A slow or bureaucratic response means watching the opportunity sail past.