West Asia crisis: Congestion at ports, exporters flag carriers’ ‘opportunistic pricing’

The FIEO told the government that a Directorate General of Shipping’s (DGS) advisory issued on March 9, asking stakeholders to “refrain from predatory, non-transparent and opportunistic pricing practices, including levy of exorbitant charges”, is not being followed on the ground.

“Based on industry feedback, exporters continue to report instances of unilateral and non-transparent levy of charges such as detention, demurrage, War Risk Surcharge, additional freight and related surcharges. In this regard, the possibility of suitable monitoring of audit mechanisms may kindly be examined to assess implementation of the DGS advisory at the ground level and to discourage any non-transparent or opportunistic pricing practices impacting trade,” the FIEO wrote to the government on May 19.

In response to a query by The Indian Express, a Shipping ministry representative said Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, has been reviewing the situation and has met various stakeholders, including importers, exporters, the shipping lines and port officials.

“He also warned stakeholders not to try extra profit-making by taking advantage of the situation,” the representative said. A query mailed to the Commerce and Industry Ministry did not elicit a response.

The Shipping Ministry representative said that in March 2026 and early April 2026, certain containers destined for West Asia had been diverted to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and were given temporary storage at the western port on a transhipment basis.

“These containers have later been shipped out to West Asia through the ports of Khor Fakkan, Sohar, and Salalah. Currently, there are no such instances of stranded containers destined to West Asia lying in the port,” the representative said.

Exporters said a shortage of transport workers has added to the challenges of the ports and led to a sharp spike in transport costs. An advisory issued by JNPA on May 15 said the recent development of a shortage of trailer drivers due to the vacation season, compounded with elections and other factors, has created a serious impediment in shifting the import containers from terminals to Container Freight Station (CFS).

“It has also been observed that this situation of shortage of drivers may continue till the end of May 2006. In this situation, it is essential that some fruitful measures must be taken to reduce this increase in pendency,” JNPA said.

The Shipping Ministry representative said there has been no strike at JNPA in the past year. “However, there has been a shortage of drivers in April and May, due to drivers taking an annual vacation every year during this period. This year, due to various other issues, including the West Asian crisis, more drivers (above 50%) have gone on leave to their native places. This has caused a certain delay in the evacuation of import containers to CFS. Currently, this issue is also under control,” the representative said.

Khalid Khan, former Vice President & Regional Chairman, FIEO, said, “There is a high backlog at ports, and several containers are not able to get in or come out. This resulted in a huge traffic jam at the western ports. And the cost of this traffic jam is borne squarely by the exporters. During a crisis, relief measures should be announced, but even charges for services like lift-on or lift-off charges have gone up several times.”

He said exporters are already hit by high freight rates, and in such a situation, port authorities should not pass on the detention and demurrage charges, adding that more space needs to be created for storage where cargo can be unloaded and moved.

“The customs and other departments have been supportive during the crisis by relaxing certain norms. But the situation can be better handled if there is a single point of contact comprising all ministries, including road, shipping, commerce, and customs. There should also be a push to make the entire port clearance system paperless so that unwarranted delays that hurt the system during a crisis can be eliminated,” Haresh Calcuttawala, CEO and Co-Founder of Trezix, said.

The port congestion continues to affect cargo – an advisory as recently as last week asked traders to expect a delay at Mundra Port. Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), the public warehouse operator, issued an advisory on June 6, informing traders that congestion at Mundra Port continues to persist, resulting in delays in container evacuation, rail transit, and onward dispatch of containers.

“The prevailing congestion is affecting terminal operations, container handling, loading activities, and rail movements, which may impact the planned schedules for dispatch and delivery… It is further understood that container loading at the port is being undertaken based on operational accessibility and availability of containers rather than on a strict First-In-First-Out basis,” the CWC said.

The FIEO, in its letter to the government, also indicated that the exporters are not able to take the benefit of the relief measures announced by the government due to the non-transparent system of bills issued by foreign shipping lines. It said there is significant variation in the dates from which different shipping lines have implemented war risk surcharge (WRS). In some cases, WRS has reportedly been levied even on cargo that had already been discharged prior to the onset of the conflict situation.

“As the triggering event and risk environment are common across the sector, exporters have requested that the possibility of having a transparent and uniform cut-off date for applicability of WRS across shipping lines may kindly be examined. For exporters to effectively avail benefits under the RELIEF support framework being implemented by ECGC, it would be helpful if shipping lines issue invoices in a standardised and transparent format wherein WRS is reflected separately instead of being merged within ocean freight,” the FIEO said.