Transit traffic through Aqaba's ports has posted extraordinary growth in 2026, underscoring the city's expanding role in regional trade and its position as a key supply route for neighboring markets, particularly Iraq.
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The surge is forcing authorities to confront a new operational reality: expanding infrastructure and building additional logistics yards to keep pace with rising transit volumes, turning the commercial momentum into a strategic opportunity to strengthen Aqaba's competitiveness as a regional transport and logistics hub.
The Jordan Maritime Syndicate said recent regional developments and shifts in international shipping over the past several months have had a direct, positive impact on trade patterns and supply chains passing through the Kingdom.The syndicate noted an unprecedented rise in transit traffic through the Port of Aqaba, particularly in strategic goods bound for Iraq, where a broad reconstruction and development drive requires a steady, uninterrupted flow of goods.
Captain Mohammad Dalabeeh, the syndicate's secretary-general, said operational data for the first seven months of 2026 confirms a clear structural shift in trade flows through Jordan's maritime gateway.The sharp rise in transit containers, Dalabeeh explained, reflects Aqaba's growing importance as a secure logistics corridor. But he cautioned that the growth also presents a national challenge: the Kingdom must provide new storage space and handling yards to prevent bottlenecks that could disrupt the flow of goods.
Transit containers moving through the Port of Aqaba rose from 30,763 in the first seven months of 2025 to 80,235 in the same period of 2026, an increase of 49,472 containers, or 160.8 percent.
Dalabeeh pointed to an even sharper rise in transit containers bound for Iraq, which jumped from 3,599 to 37,182, a 933.1 percent increase. He said the figures reflect growing confidence in and reliance on the Port of Aqaba, but warned that keeping existing yards at their current capacity could turn this economic windfall into an operational bottleneck that disrupts loading and unloading.
Growing Need for Yard Space
Dalabeeh added that the growth in transit traffic has not been limited to standard containers requiring parking space. Data for the first seven months of 2026 also showed a clear rise in bulk cargo and basic commodities, reflecting increased goods traffic toward regional markets and adding to the need for additional silos, warehouses and open storage yards.
The surge in transit traffic represents a golden economic and logistical opportunity for Jordan, Dalabeeh said, but it also creates significant spatial and operational pressure that must be addressed proactively through major projects to expand port back-yards and connect them to rail lines or dedicated truck routes.
He linked the shift to broader geopolitical and security developments that have altered the routes and schedules of some shipping lines, prompting global carriers to use alternative transshipment ports. That trend, he said, has directly increased the importance of building flexible infrastructure in Aqaba, anchored by large, well-equipped yards capable of absorbing supply chain shocks and storing goods for longer periods without disrupting daily port operations.
Dalabeeh also said capacity at charging points for refrigerated containers has grown quickly, rising from around 700 to nearly 1,000 electrical outlets. He described the expansion as an important stopgap measure, but said the lasting solution lies in building entirely new refrigerated yards outside the port's traditional grounds to ease pressure and ensure uninterrupted operations for temperature-sensitive shipments.
Logistics expert Mohammad Aqaili said the figures mark a turning point in Aqaba's economic history. He said the shift in importers' attention toward Jordanian ports requires a rapid response, including the creation of integrated logistics villages, truck rest areas and auxiliary customs yards, to prevent the city's streets and facilities from turning into informal holding areas that disrupt commercial and tourist traffic.
Mohammad Tarawneh, who works in customs clearance, said recent decisions have improved the flow of operations, but said the sector's biggest concern remains the limited size of customs yards, which are struggling to keep pace with incoming cargo volumes. He called on relevant authorities to move quickly to acquire or allocate new land and prepare it as inspection and storage yards, in order to speed up cargo release and reduce storage costs for traders.
Truck Traffic Rises Sharply
Official data also showed a significant rise in truck traffic through the Karama-Trebil border crossing with Iraq. The total number of trucks crossing rose from 99,491 in the first seven months of 2025 to 229,997 in the same period of 2026, an increase of 130,506 trucks, or 131.2 percent, a fleet size that requires organized parking and rest areas in Aqaba and along transit routes.
Loaded trucks leaving Jordan for Iraq rose 148.9 percent, while empty trucks entering the Kingdom rose 148 percent, forming an integrated economic cycle that is boosting Jordan's land transport sector while placing considerable strain on road infrastructure and logistics yards that must expand to absorb the daily volume.
Mohammad Abu Omar, investment commissioner at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), told Al-Ghad the authority has taken immediate steps to raise the logistics system's capacity to absorb trade growth, including allocating additional container yards. Current operational capacity stands at around 1.3 million TEUs [twenty-foot equivalent units] annually, he said.
Abu Omar said a yard behind the logistics village, with capacity for 2,300 containers, has been allocated to receive empty containers, and Yard No. 10, covering 67,500 square meters, is being prepared. A separate yard with a 3,000-container capacity has been designated for long-dwell containers, and infrastructure has been reinforced with generators capable of serving 120 refrigerated containers.
Abu Omar said Aqaba's logistics network currently includes 10 specialized industrial and commercial ports, with the multipurpose port's capacity reaching around 15 million tons. He said an 80,000-square-meter yard behind the silo building has been designated for storing vehicles bound for neighboring countries, amid rising demand for unloading and storage services.
He pointed to the government's announcement, under directives from the prime minister, of a new Aqaba-Ma'an dry port, part of a plan to ease pressure on Aqaba's logistics facilities, improve storage and distribution efficiency, and position Ma'an as a supporting logistics hub. Work is also under way to expand Yard No. 4, Abu Omar said, to improve operational efficiency and boost storage capacity as Aqaba absorbs growing regional trade.
Abu Omar said the authority is working on short- and long-term plans to ensure a steady supply of oil and petroleum derivatives to the domestic market, including activation of a berth-scheduling system and the launch of a Single Point Mooring (SPM) project, which will allow the port to receive larger oil tankers and reduce waiting times. He said plans are also under way to build a new port for oil and bulk liquids at an estimated cost of 45 million Jordanian dinars, to operate alongside the current port, with completion expected by late 2028.
Among the other strategic energy projects, Abu Omar cited the construction of an onshore gasification unit at Sheikh Sabah Port and the replacement of the current floating storage vessel with an owned Floating Storage Unit (FSU), in cooperation with the National Electric Power Company, as part of efforts to strengthen Jordan's energy security.
Source: Al-Ghad.
