JNPA cuts stranded containers to half; Sonowal conducts review

 

Over the past 20 days, about 16,000 TEUs were dispatched from the port to destinations in the Middle East

Customs authorities at Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House (JNCH) now allow “Brought to Terminal” (BTT) movement of export cargo even without an Export General Manifest (EGM), with minimal inspections and waived charges (file photo) | Photo Credit: ABEER KHAN

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra has successfully reduced stranded containers to half, even as global shipping dynamics remain affected by the ongoing West Asia war. The progress follows a review and consultation meeting chaired by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday, which brought together key stakeholders, including shipping lines, terminal operators, and trade bodies to discuss continuity, resilience, and strategic adaptation in maritime operations.

Over the past 20 days, about 16,000 TEUs were dispatched from the port to destinations in the Middle East, while around 1,700 TEUs returned to local terminals. The number of vessels at anchorage has been reduced from nine to four, while the port is currently operating at around 50 per cent of its container storage capacity, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) said in an official release.

“During this period, the number of vessels at anchorage has significantly reduced from nine to four, indicating improved vessel clearance and operational efficiency. As of March 18, there are approximately 25,000 TEUs of transshipment containers unloaded for temporary storage at the port. The number of stranded containers at JNPA has come down from around 5,000 TEUs on March 1 to nearly 2,500 TEUs of export containers, while perishable/reefer cargo has reduced from 2,000 TEUs to around 800 TEUs as of March 16,” JNPA added

 

NMPA announces measures for cargo affected by West Asia crisis

 

Ground rent waivers, emergency handling and added storage capacity offered

NMPA will accommodate all additional stranded cargo and facilitate emergency discharge for vessels transiting to West Asia. | Photo Credit: FAKRUDDIN H

New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) has announced several measures to mitigate the hardships faced by port users due to ongoing geopolitical disturbances in West Asia.

In a trade notice dated March 17, NMPA announced measures such as facility to store stranded containers in the terminal’s container yards / port storage area till the cargo is shipped out. NMPA and the terminal operator are in constant consultation with Customs authorities to facilitate storage of laden containers from other ports destined to West Asia, as temporary transshipment cargo at NMPA terminal.

The trade notice said that NMPA has sufficient storage capacity to provide additional space for terminal, export-import, and transit cargo

 

Marine insurance’s added cost of war

 

Premiums for marine hull and cargo coverage zoom after attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz

India’s general insurance sector is feeling the heat of the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, with the conflict spilling over to multiple countries in West Asia.

Shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital corridor — has been disrupted and oil shipments remain largely blocked after several tankers were damaged by Iranian strikes. The attacks on ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz has led to a spike in war-risk insurance premiums for marine hull and cargo, as also claims risk. The available insurance capacity has tightened.

Insurance companies have been reassessing marine risk coverage case by case, factoring in vessel routing, ports involved and reinsurer positions.

 

Trump says several countries will send warships to keep Strait of Hormuz open

While he did not confirm which nations had agreed, Trump expressed hope that countries such as China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain would send naval vessels

 

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on before boarding Air Force One for travel to Florida, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 13, 2026. | Photo Credit: KEVIN LAMARQUEU.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that many countries would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping, but did not provide details on which countries would do so.

“Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said he hoped that China, France, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom and others would send ships to the area.

Major ports report 8% increase in volume in April-Dec 2025 A government official said the investments made by major ports in augmentation and efficiency has been a major factor in the cargo volume growth By T E Raja Simhan

 

Traffic through India’s 12 major ports rose by 8 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year, with all the ports posting a positive growth. The major ports, governed by the Centre, handled 672 million tonnes (mt) in total between April 1 and December 31, 2025, as against 621 mt in the same period last year.

Increased handling of containers and Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL) – despite the decline in import of Russian oil – helped the major ports post 8 per cent growth. Both containers and POL handling grew at over 10 per cent, as per data from the Indian Ports Association.

Kpler’s data shows that India’s imports of Russian crude fell by 595 kbpd month-on-month (m-o-m) in December, dropping to 1.24 mbpd. This was the lowest level since December 2022, according to Kpler.

Interestingly, all major ports reported a positive growth in the first nine months. However, in the same period last year, Kolkata, New Mangalore and Mormugao ports reported a decline over the previous year.

Deendayal port (formerly Kandla port) topped the list with cargo volume of 116 mt (7 per cent growth), followed by Paradip (115 mt) and JNPA (75 mt), the data shows.

In April to December this fiscal, Mormugao port posted the highest growth though the base was small while growth rate of handling by Kamarajar (Ennore) port was the lowest.

Diversifying sourcing

POL volumes at Indian ports will primarily comprise imports of crude oil, LPG, and natural gas, along with exports of key petroleum products such as motor spirit, high-speed diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), said Prashant Vasisht, Senior Vice President and Co-Group Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA. The decline in volumes from Russia is expected to be offset by increased crude procurement from other regions. Overall, POL volumes handled at ports will continue to grow in line with domestic demand and consumption, despite the reduction in Russian oil supplies, he told businessline.

As per ICRA analysis, POL like crude oil, LNG, and LPG, continued to hold the largest share at around 28 per cent, followed by coal at 24 per cent and containers at nearly 23 per cent. The remaining cargo comprised iron ore, fertilizers, and other commodities.

The rise in container volumes reflects the increasing containerisation of cargo in India, fueled by growing manufacturing activity, rising domestic consumption, and the e-commerce boom. Additionally, various Government of India (GoI) initiatives aimed at promoting multimodal logistics have further supported this trend, Vasisht said.

A government official said the investments made by major ports in augmentation and efficiency has been a major factor in the cargo volume growth. After the new Major Ports Act, ports are free to decide rates as per market. If service is bad non-major ports (privately run) are there in the vicinity. The market decides, he said.

Published on January 7, 202

Suez Canal ship transits down 60% over 2023 Even though shipping companies returned to Suez Canal after Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced an end to vessel-related attacks, stakeholders have remained cautious

 

Ship sailings via Suez Canal are 60 per cent lower compared to the figure in 2023, but normalisation of the Red Sea appears more likely compared to past two years, an analysis by global shipping organisation BIMCO shows.

The last attack on a cargo ship in Gulf of Aden occurred on September 29, 2025. Subsequently, in November, the Houthi rebels of Yemen announced an end to all attacks on ships. Since then, shipping companies are taking cautious steps in using the Red Sea route. 

On December 19, 2025, a Maersk-owned ship used the Red Sea route for the first time in two years. French container line CMA CGM is also increasing its transits with ships making port calls at Malta and Port Said.

However, overall Suez Canal transits in first week of January were 60 per cent lower compared to first week of 2023, said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.

Alternate route

While the safety of crew, ship and cargo remains paramount, recent reductions in Red Sea war risk premiums may encourage more ships to revert to Suez Canal routings. In early December, S&P Global reported that premiums fell to 0.2 per cent of hull values, the lowest since November 2023 and down from 0.5 per cent before the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

“A normalisation of ship transits now appears more likely than at any point during the last two years, but it remains unknown if and how fast this may happen,” Rasmussen said.

According to him, a return to Suez Canal would reduce shipping companies’ costs significantly, but also hurt ship demand. “A full normalisation is estimated to reduce container ship demand by approximately 10 per cent while other sectors could see 2-3 per cent reductions,” he said.

MatchLog ties up with Softlink Global to enhance container asset optimisation capabilities The integration would help container reuse and asset optimisation for freight forwarders, third-party logistics providers and shipping companies

 

Container reuse platform MatchLog on Tuesday said it has entered into an agreement with logistics solutions provider Softlink Global to integrate its container equipment optimisation capabilities with the latter's enterprise resource planning platform Logi-Sys.

The integration would help container reuse and asset optimisation for freight forwarders, third-party logistics providers and shipping companies.

The integration is designed to scale across more than 100 countries where Logi-Sys is already deployed, using Softlink Global's footprint to standardise container reuse practices while adapting to regional operating realities, it said.

Softlink Global is a digital backbone platform powering freight and logistics operations for more than 5,100 companies globally, while its enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform serves as the system of record for freight forwarding, customs, warehousing and financial operations.

By embedding container optimisation within Logi-Sys, customers gain unified operational control across freight forwarding execution, container visibility, asset utilisation, customs documentation, warehousing and financial workflows through a single operational system, MatchLog said.

"Trade lanes across the Asia-Pacific region continue to face persistent container imbalance and empty repositioning challenges. Through this collaboration, we are taking a decisive step towards making container optimisation a seamless part of every logistics workflow. Integrating this capability within ERP systems empowers operators to strengthen asset utilisation, lower costs and accelerate progress towards more sustainable and efficient supply chains," said Manish Singh, Co-founder, MatchLog.

The strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) addresses long-standing inefficiencies in container logistics by placing container reuse intelligence inside the same ERP workflows where bookings, documentation, billing and cost control are already managed, it said.

"By embedding MatchLog's reuse intelligence directly into Logi-Sys, we are extending ERP from transaction management into asset efficiency. This gives our customers tighter cost control, better planning discipline and cleaner execution without adding operational complexity," said Amit Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, Softlink Global.