The US-Israel attack on Iran has brought the movement of containers across Indian ports to nearly a complete halt, severely impacting shipments to Dubai, Iran, Kuwait, Sharjah and Doha, SteelOrbis learned from trade and shipping circles on Monday, March 2.
According to sources at Indian ports, movement of all containers have come to a halt since the afternoon of Saturday, February 28, and, though the exact number of container shipments impacted has not been officially disclosed, information available from shipping lines indicate that the movement of at least 2,500-3,000 containers may have been stalled across all major Indian ports.
It has been learned that 300 containers due for shipment to Middle Eastern ports are stalled at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) near Mumbai and another 2,000 containers carrying cargoes are stuck at Mundra port in Gujarat.
In the meantime, India’s ministry of commerce has convened a meeting of exporters, shipping lines and freight forwarders on Monday (March 2) to assess the impact of the attack on Iran on India’s trade flows.
The meeting will evaluate the rapidly escalating situation in the Middle East and its implications for shipping, freight rates and logistical corridors critical for Indian trade, a government official said.
Exporters have raised their concerns that the conflict has disrupted trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, both key maritime passages connecting India to the Gulf region, North America and Europe, he added.