Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 8, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 8, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHapag‑Lloyd’s CEO Rolf Habben Jansen warns the Middle East crisis is costing the company an extra $50–60 million weekly, partly due to six of its ships stranded in the region. He says some of these costs will be passed on to customers.
By Elke Ahlswede and Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT, April 8 (Reuters) - Hapag-Lloyd voiced cautious optimism on Wednesday on the prospect of resuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after a two-week ceasefire agreed between the U.S. and Iran, but said that resuming normal traffic throughout its network would take at least six to eight weeks.
Speaking in a call to customers, CEO Rolf Habben Jansen echoed guarded remarks by container shipping peer Maersk, saying that more security assurances were needed.
"Even if a ceasefire has now been agreed overnight, I would say that it's fair to say that the conflict in the Middle East is still severely disrupting shipping, but also supply chains," the Hapag CEO said, adding that the situation was "very fluid". He raised the prospect of taking customer orders, provided that the ceasefire holds over the next few days.
"We will likely open up for bookings into the upper Gulf area, probably initially for selected markets, but hopefully fairly soon," said Jansen.
Amid broad market relief over the tentative deal, Hapag shares were up 5.5% at 0935 GMT, recouping losses from the three prior trading sessions. Maersk stock slipped 1.5%.
He estimated additional costs from the Middle East crisis at $50 million to $60 million a week and warned that the German company would have to pass on some of that to its customers. That was up from $40-$50 million stated previously.
He added that about 1,000 ships were still stuck in the region, six of which are from his company with a combined capacity of about 25,000 standard containers.
(Additional reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Madeline Chambers)
The CEO of Hapag-Lloyd estimates that the Iran crisis is resulting in additional weekly costs of $50 million to $60 million.
Yes, the CEO warned that some of the additional costs will be passed on to customers.
About 1,000 ships are stuck in the region, with six belonging to Hapag-Lloyd.
The reporting was by Ludwig Burger, writing by Miranda Murray, and editing by Madeline Chambers.
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