KARACHI: Pakistan could lease or buy a container ship to help exporters facing longer, costlier routes to European and US markets amid Middle East shipping disruption, its maritime affairs minister said Thursday.

The US-Iran war has disrupted Gulf shipping, while attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement on vessels in the Red Sea have prompted carriers to divert some services away from the Suez Canal, the shortcut between Asia and Europe. Sailing around southern Africa instead increases journey times and operating costs, putting pressure on manufacturers supplying overseas buyers.

On Thursday’s, a delegation including executives from German sportswear company Adidas and Pakistani manufacturer Style Textile told the maritime minister that regional rerouting had increased shipping costs and delivery times, according to a ministry statement. They said this disadvantaged Pakistani exporters against competitors with more direct access to major markets.

“If exporters can assure the availability of the required volume of cargo, leasing or purchasing a container ship could be considered to facilitate them,” Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said, according to the ministry’s statement.

He said sufficient cargo would be needed to make the operation commercially viable.

Chaudhry established a working group comprising representatives of the ministry, state-owned Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and exporters to examine the proposal and other ways to reduce transport costs and improve access to overseas markets.

The statement did not announce a ship purchase or lease, identify proposed routes or give a timetable for launching a service. It also provided no figures for the additional costs or delivery delays reported by the delegation.

The exporters said they would consult other businesses before submitting proposals to the working group.

Pakistan’s ministry did not specify which shipping services or waterways were responsible for the delays raised at Thursday’s meeting. The working group will assess whether a dedicated container service and other arrangements could improve exporters’ shipping connections and reduce costs.

Shipping disruptions have affected routes differently, with some carriers beginning to restore services through the Red Sea. Maersk and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd announced in September that four more joint services would resume Suez Canal sailings, while saying further changes would depend on the absence of renewed regional escalation.