The military conflict between India and Pakistan that sent shudders through maritime stakeholders across South Asia last week is seeing a thaw, at least for now, following a tentative ceasefire announced by both sides over the weekend.

But the combined impact of recent tensions and enhanced port security protocols has left container supply chains out of India’s hotly sought-after west coast corridor in a state of flux.

Mundra Port, the country’s busiest freight handler, is working to fix operational chaos after it was forced to suspend vessel dockings multiple times due to the high security risk environment that involved electrical blackouts during night hours over the past week.

“Mundra terminals are now berthing vessels on a first-in, first-out basis instead of on fixed window slots,” an operations executive at a European carrier who didn’t want to be identified told the Journal of Commerce. “The residual port congestion is expected to take some days to get any better.”

Mundra port owner Adani Ports (APSEZ), in a trade notice on Friday, urged its terminal users to plan for anticipated delays, adding it was “evaluating the situation under the guidance of civil administration.”

Additionally, Mundra’s busiest container terminal, Adani International Container Terminal (AICTPL), a joint venture between APSEZ and Mediterranean Shipping Co., had a scheduled 12-hour suspension of inter-terminal container (ITT) movements on Friday for gate infrastructure upgrades, amplifying supply chain woes. ITT operations are typically critical to transshipment cargo handling, which MSC has significantly expanded out of Mundra for its regional trade interests.

Bypassing Mundra

Sensing long berthing delays, major carriers on Indian trades are already bypassing Mundra to keep their schedules in line.

Maersk has told customers it will skip Mundra on its MECL service between West India and North America until further notice. The weekly MECL in February included a stop at Mundra in a service shakeup to boost Indian loading capacity.

Local shipping sources told the Journal of Commerce the carrier will instead roll MECL Indian export bookings over to its Mawingu Express service for relays over to Salalah Port in Oman, a key Maersk hub for the region. MECL India imports will be rerouted to APM Terminals Pipavav, another West India gateway, using the capacity on its Mawingu and/or FI3 Northeast Asia trade services.

Other known current week westbound sailings skipping Mundra calls include the Houston Express and Baltimore Express, both operated by Hapag-Lloyd on the India-Europe trade (IOS) as part of the Gemini Cooperation network, known as the ME1 for Maersk.

Meanwhile, more carriers have hit Pakistan shippers with contingency surcharges to recoup extra costs.

Hapag-Lloyd will levy an add-on of $500 per container on Pakistani exports to Europe and Africa, and $300 per box on the reverse leg, beginning May 21.