GLOBAL container shipping networks are undergoing a structural decentralisation as carriers pull back from Asia’s dominant mega hubs and redirect capacity into a widening set of secondary regional gateways.
That is the conclusion of new analysis by consultancy SeaIntelligence, drawing on the latest update of the Port Liner Shipping Connectivity Index — developed by UN Trade and Development and MDS Transmodal, to assess how well individual ports are integrated into the global container network.
The index provides a single score reflecting a port’s strength of connection to the global container network by measuring the number of services, shipping lines, vessel sizes, direct connections and sailing frequencies linking it to other ports.
The 2026 Q2 PLSCI shows that the network adjustments triggered by the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz crises have now solidified into long‑term operating baselines. What began as emergency rerouting has evolved into a decisive shift in how carriers design and deploy their global service structures, with connectivity increasingly redistributed away from traditional mega hubs and towards a more dispersed regional architecture.
The latest data indicates that crisis-driven improvisation has become a deliberate strategy, according to SeaIntelligence.
Carriers are concentrating volumes at regional relay ports and targeted export gateways, while trimming back the dense transhipment networks that previously centred on Singapore, Port Klang, Tanjung Pelepas and China’s giant container complexes, it explained.
The Middle East remains the most visible catalyst. As carriers navigate prolonged instability in the Red Sea and Middle East Gulf corridors, connectivity patterns are being rebuilt around specific nodes rather than restored wholesale.
Jeddah, for example, posted a 14.9% jump in its container connectivity score for the latest quarter, while UAE ports such as Khor Fakkan and Sharjah recorded sharp gains as carriers sought secure alternatives outside immediate threat zones. Even Fujairah, a long absentee from the index, re‑entered the PLSCI as lines leaned on the UAE port as a temporary waypoint to ensure cargo coverage in the MEG, temporarily repurposing specialised hubs as ad‑hoc relay points.
East Africa’s absorption has been more uneven. Djibouti and Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam have captured diverted volumes, but connectivity in Mombasa, Kenya, has stalled after a late‑2025 peak, highlighting the highly localised nature of the spillover.
A similar pattern is emerging across the Indian Subcontinent. Major hubs such as Mundra, Nhava Sheva/Jawaharlal Nehru and Colombo have seen their connectivity reduce as carriers respond to the latest Strait of Hormuz escalation. Instead, volumes are being dispersed to secondary Indian gateways such as Pipavav, Ennore, Hazira and Visakhapatnam, all of which posted strong quarter‑on‑quarter gains. The shift suggests carriers are bypassing congested primary nodes in favour of a broader domestic network capable of absorbing relay cargo more flexibly.
This decentralisation trend is now visible across the straits, according to SeaIntelligence.
Singapore, after peaking at the end of 2025, saw its 2Q26 PLSCI score fall slightly in the second quarter of 2026. Port Klang fell 5% over the same period, and Tanjung Pelepas dropped 7.1% as carriers removed redundant strings and rebalanced networks after two years of crisis‑driven surges.
But even China’s largest gateways are shedding connectivity. Shanghai and Ningbo posted declines of 2% and 2.2%, noted SeaIntelligence.
Indeed, the China+1 manufacturing shift is amplifying this dispersion but not evenly.
“As shipping lines reallocate capacity to support this manufacturing diversification, the resulting gains within these alternative markets are highly asymmetric,” noted SeaIntelligence.
For example, Ho Chi Minh’s connectivity has largely plateaued despite Vietnam’s manufacturing boom, while Haiphong has surged past it, gaining 5.1% in the latest quarter alone.
“Its geographic proximity to South China’s manufacturing clusters translates directly into cross-border supply chain integration, making it the primary maritime beneficiary of new service strings,” said SeaIntelligence.
Thailand’s Laem Chabang shows similar resilience, expanding its long‑term baseline and adding 4% quarter on quarter.
Indonesia’s data meanwhile shows a bifurcated pattern.
This, said SeaIntelligence, highlights “a clear distinction between domestic manufacturing corridors and regional feeder ecosystems”.
Semarang, serving Central Java’s industrial corridor, has grown 46.6% long term, while Batam, which has been integrated into shortsea feeder networks, has seen its index score surge more than 300% from its baseline.
Penang, however, offers a stark counterpoint. Despite significant manufacturing investment, its connectivity has contracted 18.2% as carriers reduce the number of ports per string, pushing its export volumes into feeder networks rather than mainline calls, SeaIntelligence explained.
Taken together, it said the latest PLSCI data shows carriers are no longer simply reacting to crisis conditions, underscoring “a definitive network recalibration”.
“As primary transshipment nodes hit connectivity ceilings, shipping lines are actively shedding excess capacity at mega-hubs in favour of secondary regional relays and specific gateways that directly support cross-border supply chain diversification,” said SeaIntelligence.
“These dispersed routing patterns, evident in the sustained growth of ports like Djibouti, Ennore and Haiphong, represent locked-in operational baselines rather than anomalies.”
