Explosion and fire at Shahid Rajaee Port near Bandar Abbas
Explosion and fire at Shahid Rajaee Port near Bandar Abbas. The disruption ran from 2025-04-26 (26 April 2025) to 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025), 3 days, affecting Bandar Shahid Rajaee. Bandar Shahid Rajaee averaged 0.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 0.3 (-0.3). Bandar Shahid Rajaee averaged 1.0 calls per day during the event window against an expected 1.8 (-0.8).
Key facts
- Started
- 2025-04-26 (26 April 2025)
- Ended
- 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025)
- Status
- ended
- Type
- Fire
- Severity
- 2 Moderate
- Scope
- port
- Chokepoints
- None
- Ports
- Bandar Shahid Rajaee
- Lanes
- None
- Countries
- Iran
- Confidence
- medium: The date of the explosion and the restart of customs and cargo handling are reported consistently by Iranian state media and two international outlets, but official Iranian figures for the human toll were revised more than once and no port authority page could be retrieved directly.
- First reported
- 2025-04-27 (27 April 2025)
- Severity basis: A container storage area inside the port was out of service for more than 72 hours, with officials saying container removal alone could take up to two weeks, while the rest of the port kept working.
What happened
An explosion followed by a fire struck Shahid Rajaee Port near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on 2025-04-26 (26 April 2025), in a container storage area of the country's largest container port. Iranian officials said the blast involved chemicals held in containers. The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration said clearance for foreign transit, exports and imports restarted at the port on 2025-04-27, and the Ports and Maritime Organization said loading and unloading continued at the remaining terminals and yards, with 26 ships alongside. Fires at the site were reported extinguished on 2025-04-28. Officials said removing damaged containers could take up to two weeks. The Iranian interior ministry attributed the explosion to safety failures, and a government investigation was ordered.
Measured effect
Port calls, Bandar Shahid Rajaee
- Baseline (expected)
- 1.8 calls per day
- Observed
- 1.0 calls per day
- Change
- -0.8 (percent omitted, baseline too small)
- Standardised score
- -0.5
- Event window
- 2025-04-26 to 2025-04-28 (3 days)
- Baseline window
- 2025-02-22 to 2025-04-18 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:53d84f7416ff
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Container ship port calls, Bandar Shahid Rajaee
- Baseline (expected)
- 0.3 calls per day
- Observed
- 0.0 calls per day
- Change
- -0.3 (percent omitted, baseline too small)
- Standardised score
- -0.3
- Event window
- 2025-04-26 to 2025-04-28 (3 days)
- Baseline window
- 2025-02-22 to 2025-04-18 (56 valid days)
- Method
- wfm-effect-1.0
- Computed
- 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:ee839c5b522e
Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.
This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.
Timeline
- An explosion and fire break out in a container storage area at Shahid Rajaee Port near Bandar Abbas. [s1] [s3] [s4]
- The customs administration says clearance for foreign transit, exports and imports has resumed at the port, starting with essential goods and production shipments. [s1]
- Fires at the port are reported extinguished about two days after the blast. Officials say sporadic fires continued in flammable cargo and that clearing damaged containers could take up to two weeks. [s3] [s4]
- The Ports and Maritime Organization says loading and unloading are running normally at the unaffected terminals and yards, with 26 ships alongside, and that rebuilding of the damaged area has begun. [s2]
Cause
Iranian officials said the explosion involved chemicals stored in containers at the port and pointed to safety failures, and the interior ministry said people at fault had been identified and summoned. A government investigation was ordered and its findings had not been tested in court. Attributed by: Iranian Ministry of Interior and the government investigation into the explosion. [s3] [s4]
The cause is under investigation.
Resolution
Corrections
No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).
Sources
- [s1] Tehran Times, Cargo transit, transport operations resume at Shahid Rajaee Port, published 2025-04-27 (27 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
- [s2] Islamic Republic News Agency, Operations are back to normal at blast-hit Shahid Rajaee Port: Official, accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s3] Al Jazeera, Fires extinguished at key Iran port as explosion death toll rises to 70, published 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
- [s4] gCaptain, Fire at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Contained as Death Toll Rises, published 2025-04-28 (28 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)