Stepping on the Gas

Description

“The humanitarian costs were immense,” said Andreas Krieg, a professor at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London. “But from an economic point of view, Qatar remains the most resilient economy in the region with unprecedented levels of wealth that it knows how to use to translate into influence and power. It was its vast reserves that it initially mobilized to bypass the blockade until new trade routes were firmly established.”

According to Krieg, Hamad Port itself got a boost during the blockade, luring billions of dollars’ worth of transshipment from Dubai’s Jebel Ali, the busiest port in the region.

Hamad, whose official launch in September 2017 came just weeks after the blockade began, had been seeking its own shipping routes that bypassed Jebel Ali, but was locked into long-term transshipping contracts with the UAE.

“When the blockade happened, the UAE forced all existing contracts with shipping companies going to Qatar to be terminated,” Krieg said. “This freed up the Qataris to establish new routes bypassing Jebel Ali. Bigger vessels could now directly go to Hamad Port. It saved money and made Qatar more independent.”

Period	25 Jun 2021
Held at	Breakbulk, United States