U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks severely disrupted Middle East ocean shipping, tanker and air-cargo operations, drove oil prices higher and prompted big container lines to pull back from a tentative return to the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

The Joint Maritime Information Center, which informs ocean shipping on behalf of the U.S. and U.K. navies, on Sunday raised its regional risk assessment to Critical from Severe following Iranian missile and drone strikes, including attacks on three tankers. The center also warned of significant satellite-navigation interference, as well as secondary risks as ships cluster for safety outside the Gulf.

Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port, among the world’s largest, caught fire Sunday after debris from an aerial interception plummeted into it, the Journal’s Omar Abdel-Baqui reports. Other regional container ports halted operations, and most tankers stopped crossing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil typically moves.

• A.P. Moller-Maersk suspended all vessel crossings in the strait and rerouted ships away from the Suez Canal to round the Cape of Good Hope.
• Hapag-Lloyd also paused Strait of Hormuz and Suez transits and announced a $1,500-per-20-foot-equivalent unit surcharge on cargo to and from the Gulf.
• CMA CGM likewise suspended Suez Canal transits, ordered all vessels in or bound for the Gulf to find shelter, and imposed emergency surcharges on regional shipments starting at $2,000 per 20-foot container.
• Mediterranean Shipping Co. suspended all cargo bookings to the Middle East, as well.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels reportedly warned they would resume missile and drone strikes on vessels and on Israel in support of Iran, after suspending attacks on Red Sea shipping following the ceasefire in Gaza. This sharply raises the security threat to ships with ties to the U.S. and Israel, and other vessels could be targeted deliberately or incidentally, according to Bimco, the world’s biggest shipping association.

• Peter Sand, the chief analyst at transportation-data firm Xeneta, said the conflict will “shatter hopes of a large-scale return of container shipping to the Red Sea in 2026.”
• That expected return to the Red Sea had weighed on rates, as it would have freed up vessels now stuck on longer routes, adding to overcapacity. Now, the conflict's expected boost to rates sent shares of Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd and others higher on Monday. 
• The rise in spot rates for shipping to the Gulf could spread to other routes, as well, Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen said in a LinkedIn post.

The conflict forced widespread airspace closures, leading to the cancellation of thousands of flights to and from key connectors for global transport and cargo. 

• Iran has systematically targeted its Arab neighbors’ airports, the WSJ's Jared Malsin writes. As of Sunday evening, it had hit airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, hubs for the Emirates and Etihad airlines, as well as others in Kuwait and Bahrain. Air-cargo carriers including FedEx suspended flights throughout the region.

A well-honed tariff-reduction playbook is giving businesses some confidence that they can deal with Trump’s latest duties, the Journal’s Jon Emont writes. One effective play is to reduce the reported value of goods companies bring into the U.S. Importers may not be able to escape a tariff, such as the global 15% rate Trump announced after the recent Supreme Court ruling, but they can pay it on a smaller amount.

Typically, a U.S. importer declares the value of the goods it brings into the country based on what it pays. If an American furniture retailer pays a Chinese trading company $300 for a sofa subject to a 50% tariff, it would normally declare that value and owe U.S. Customs $150.

But under a legal precedent established in the 1980s, companies that dig deeper into their supply chains can report what was paid in the “first sale.” Suppose the original manufacturer of the sofa sold it for $200 to the trading company, which then marked it up to $300. The American retailer can declare the value of the sofa as $200—the first sale—and pay customs only $100 in duties.

• Spending on U.S. factory construction in December fell for the 11th-straight month, according to new Census Bureau data. (WSJ)
• Monthly wholesale inflation, measured by the producer-price index, unexpectedly rose 0.5% in January, the Labor Department said. (WSJ)
• Canada’s economy contracted at an annualized 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025, largely due to inventory withdrawal offsetting growth in exports. (WSJ)
• South Korea’s exports rose 29% from a year earlier to $67.45 billion in February, following a 34% increase in January. (WSJ)
• The Pentagon shot down a “seemingly threatening” drone–which Democratic lawmakers said belonged to Customs and Border Protection–near the Mexican border, prompting flight restrictions. (WSJ)
• Nvidia plans to unveil a new processor for AI inference computing, designed to help customers like OpenAI build faster, more efficient tools. (WSJ)
• Target said it will only carry cereals made without certified synthetic colors at its stores, citing a consumer shift toward foods made without artificial additives. (WSJ)
• Auto-parts supplier First Brands is racing to sell its brands in bankruptcy to avoid liquidating within roughly two months. (WSJ)
• The incoming president of the United Steelworkers, Roxanne Brown, wants to reset the union's stance on Nippon Steel before this year’s contract negotiations. (Bloomberg)
• Home Depot is launching real-time delivery tracking for large and bulky items. (SupplyChainDive)
• Maersk Ground Freight plans to open up to seven new facilities this year, after the January opening of a terminal in Fontana, Calif. (Transport Topics)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.