Gulf states scramble for Strait of Hormuz alternatives

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · Aug 12, 2026 · 1151 words · By Amir Soltanzadeh

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What to know about Gulf states scramble for Strait of Hormuz alternatives

Gulf states scramble for Strait of Hormuz alternatives August 12, 2026 Months of blockades and uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed energy exporters to look for ways to bypass the key shipping lane.

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Iranian officials had insisted the waterway would remain closed and negotiations would not resume unless the United States complied with a June framework agreement and offered compensation to Tehran for alleged violations.

Common ground

US President Donald Trump, however, said on Monday that the US Navy already controls the Strait of Hormuz.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Gulf states scramble for Strait of Hormuz alternatives?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that During the fighting, the Emirati port of Fujairah came under attack and vessels operating near the UAE's eastern coast were also struck?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-gulf-states-oil-shipping-pipelin…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5

schedule Pending 4

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 2

info

Claim 1: “During the fighting, the Emirati port of Fujairah came under attack and vessels operating near the UAE's eastern coast were also struck.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific claim about attacks on the port of Fujairah and vessels on the eastern coast is only found in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference. Web search results for 'port' were generic and did not provide corroboration.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Switching to AT&T and keeping your phone number? Check the status of your phone number transfer or port number request.
https://www.att.com/portstatus/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — An inland port is a port on a navigable lake, river (fluvial port), or canal with access to a sea or ocean, which therefore allows a ship to sail from the ocean inland to the port to load or unload it…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — While the grapes used to produce port made in Portugal are strictly regulated by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto, wines from outside this region that describe themselves as port may be made from other…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine

+ 1 more evidence source

verified

Claim 2: “ADCOP carries crude from Habshan in Abu Dhabi to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, outside Hormuz.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple web search results confirm that the Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP) transports oil from Habshan to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline, also known as "Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline", is an oil pipeline in the United Arab Emirates. It starts from the Habshan onshore field in Abu Dhabi and runs to Fujairah …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habshan–Fujairah_oil_pipeline

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Abu Dhabi crude oil pipeline project, also known as the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline, was initiated by the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which is owned by the Abu Dhabi Governmen…
https://www.oilandgasadvancement.com/projects/abu-dhabi-crud…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Crude oil pipeline. Location. Habshan to Fujairah, UAE.The crude oil is transported from Abu Dhabi’s main field to a crude reservoir in Fujairah. Thereafter, the oil is loaded onboard tankers outside …
https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/abu-dhabi-pipel…

+ 1 more evidence source

schedule

Claim 3: “Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain... do not have coastlines outside the Persian Gulf.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “UAE Persian Gulf coast traffic during April and May fell to 12 million tons from 68.5 million tons in the same period of 2025, according to IMF PortWatch vessel-tracking data.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general information about the IMF, but contains no data regarding UAE port traffic figures for 2025 or 2026.

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web search NEUTRAL — It does so by supporting economic policies that promote financial stability and monetary cooperation, which are essential to increase productivity, job creation, and economic well-being. The IMF is go…
https://www.imf.org/en/home

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — IMF Home page with links to News, About the IMF, Fund Rates, IMF Publications, What's New, Standards and Codes, Country Information and featured topics
https://www.imf.org/external/indexbn.htm

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Since decision making at the IMF reflects each member's relative economic position in the world, wealthier countries that provide more money to the IMF have more influence than poorer members that con…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund

info

Claim 5: “During April and May, Saudi cargo shipments from its Gulf coast fell from 47.5 million tons a year earlier to just 6.3 million tons, according to data from the International Monetary Fund's Portwatch platform.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this specific statistical claim (47.5 million to 6.3 million tons) is not found in the provided Wikipedia or web search results; only the general context of the 2026 crisis is mentioned. No independent corroboration for these specific numbers was found in the evidence provided.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a major maritime choke point for world energy trade, has been largely blocked by Iran since 28 February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Strait_of_Hormuz_crisis

info

Claim 6: “Over the same period, exports through the Red Sea rose from 29.6 million to 54.8 million tons.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific figures (29.6 million to 54.8 million tons) are only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference. Other sources discuss Red Sea exports generally but do not confirm these specific numbers.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Red Sea Global (RSG; Arabic: البحر الأحمر الدولية), previously The Red Sea Development Company, is a real estate development company based in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The company was founded in July 2017 …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_Global

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Red Sea International Airport (IATA: RSI, ICAO: OERS) is an international airport in Hanak, Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia serving the tourism megaproject in development The Red Sea Desti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_International_Airport

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Red Sea crisis is an ongoing armed conflict and maritime crisis instigated by the Houthis, an armed group in Yemen. The Houthis began launching missiles and armed drones at Israel in response to t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea_crisis

+ 4 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 7: “Saudi Arabia is sending its crude through the East-West Pipeline from the kingdom's eastern oil fields to the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly confirms the existence and function of the East-West Pipeline (Petroline), stating it runs from the eastern oil fields to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The East–West Pipeline, also known as the Petroline, is a 1,201-kilometre-long (746 mi) pipeline in Saudi Arabia that runs from the Abqaiq oil field in the Eastern Province (near Bahrain and Qatar on …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East–West_Crude_Oil_Pipeline

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Saudi Arabia has a high-income developing economy highly reliant on its petroleum sector. Oil and gas account for approximately 22.3% of Saudi GDP and 55% of government revenue, with substantial fluct…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Saudi_Arabia

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yanbu Commercial Port is among the ancient ports on the Red Sea. Its strategic importance comes from the fact that the port is a main gateway to the Muslim holy city of Medinah, as well as being a min…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanbu_Commercial_Port

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “Traffic through alternative UAE ports also declined, from 13.7 million tons to 6.3 million.”

CORROBORATED

The specific figures (13.7 million to 6.3 million tons) are reported by both Deutsche Welle and another independent web source ('Gulf states scramble for Strait of Hormuz alternatives').

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Traffic through alternative UAE ports also declined, from 13.7 million tons to 6.3 million. In other words, rather than picking up cargo diverted from the Persian Gulf, the alternative ports also saw …
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-gulf-states-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 0.8 million and 2.7 million metric tons per year.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Traffic through alternative UAE ports also declined, from 13.7 million tons to 6.3 million.
https://www.morotainews.com/magyar-p-ter-megsz-lalt-a-paksi-…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 9: “The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen recently declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported by three independent news organizations: Deutsche Welle, EuroNews, and France24.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, staged a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi-led_intervention_in_the_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since January 2010 during the Houthi insurgency, the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia revivalist political and military organization, have maintained de facto governance over significant portions of northern and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthi-controlled_Yemen

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Houthi–Saudi Arabian conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi forces in the Arabian Peninsula, including the southern Saudi prov…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthi–Saudi_Arabian_conflict

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 10: “Mansour estimates that a Basra-Aqaba pipeline could require five to seven years and cost around $8 billion to $10 billion (€6.9 billion to €8.7 billion).”

SINGLE SOURCE

The estimate provided by Mansour regarding the cost and timeline of the Basra-Aqaba pipeline is only mentioned in the Deutsche Welle cross-reference.

compare_arrows

cross reference SUPPORTS — Mansour estimates that a Basra-Aqaba pipeline could require five to seven years and cost around $8 billion to $10 billion (€6.9 billion to €8.7 billion).
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-gulf-states-…

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Claim 11: “Before the Iran war, it [the Strait of Hormuz] carried around 20% of global crude exports from the Persian Gulf to markets in Europe, Asia and North America.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is corroborated by multiple independent sources including Deutsche Welle, Britannica, and other web search results, all stating that approximately 20% of global crude/oil exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — In 2025 and 2026, Iran and the United States began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from US president Donald Trump to Iranian supreme leader Ali…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–2026_Iran–United_States_n…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Strait of Hormuz () is a waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast lies the Musandam Peninsula under the Musandam Governorate of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Hormuz

+ 4 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 12: “A Basra-Oman connection could cost $10 billion to $15 billion”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “Ships moving toward the Suez Canal must pass Bab al-Mandab”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “Before the conflict, however, roughly 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.