Wan Hai Lines Stops Bookings for Afghanistan and Central Asia Cargo Routed Through Pakistan Ports

Taiwanese carrier Wan Hai Lines has stopped accepting bookings for cargo bound for Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries through Pakistani ports. The suspension took effect immediately and has no end date. The carrier’s customer advisory gave the continued closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and ongoing regional tensions as the reasons.

The ban covers any container discharged in Pakistan for onward transit to those markets. The advisory says this explicitly includes transit that shippers or third parties arrange themselves. That goes further than other carriers, which have told customers not to plan new Afghan and CIS transit bookings but have not ruled out self-arranged onward movement.

Pakistan closed its trade crossings with Afghanistan, including Torkham and Chaman, on 12 October 2025, after deadly border clashes. Since then:

Citing World Bank data, reports say 48 per cent of Afghanistan’s August imports came through Central Asian routes and 46 per cent through Iran. Pakistan’s share was close to zero. A trade body leader in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce said a Karachi-to-Afghanistan container that once cost about US$2,000 and took around 10 days can now cost up to US$10,000 and take up to two months on detours.

This story was originally published by Maritime Gateway. Read the full story at Maritime Gateway →