News / Service chaos from trade ban with India a problem for Pakistan shippers

Port of Karachi © Imran Ahmed

Pakistan’s main container gateways of Karachi and Port Qasim are reportedly facing serious congestion after mainline carriers halted direct calls there in the wake of the trade ban with India.

The disruption followed a 2 May order by New Delhi, preventing carriers from moving Pakistan-origin cargo through Indian ports – counter restrictions were quickly announced by the Pakistan government.

According to multiple industry sources, the sudden ‘tit for tat’ embargo created chaos, with little time for ocean carriers to plan alternatives, leaving Pakistan exports stranded and boxes dropped off at other Asian transhipment ports, particularly Sri Lanka’s Colombo.

There has been a large pileup of boxes on the dock, available reports from Pakistan suggest.

Carriers rushed to reorganise traditional India-Pakistan networks, introducing new calls at Colombo or Middle East ports like Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa and Oman’s Salalah, to connect Karachi cargo via feeder or shuttle operations.

Some major carriers also opened new shuttle services or upgraded operations for Pakistan coverage, according to market sources.

MSC has launched a weekly Pakistan-Colombo feeder loop, while CMA CGM has added a broader feeder network on a rotation of Jebel Ali-Khalifa-Karachi-Port Qasim-Colombo-Karachi-Jebel Ali.

The French carrier said this now includes Pakistan import freight, generally moved on the EPIC (Europe), MEDEX (Mediterranean) and Indamex (US east coast) services via Khalifa, as well as that on the AS1 (intra-Asia) service via Colombo.

Textile shipments have been the mainstay of Pakistan’s export trade, with prospects improving in recent years due to the trade diversification in Asia and production pressures plaguing the Bangladesh industry.

All this will be a challenge for Pakistan trade, as rerouting involves longer transits and extra costs for cargo owners. one industry source said: “It’s going to be a long-haul problem for Pakistan shippers.”