Carriers pause India–Middle East cargo bookings amid Persian Gulf port chaos

Supply chains between India and the Middle East have ground to a near standstill after multiple ocean carriers suspended services and cargo acceptance on the corridor amid the military conflict involving Iran, the U.S. and Israel.

The economic stakes are significant for India, with the United Arab Emirates positioned as one of its largest trading partners. The two countries signed a comprehensive trade pact in 2022 aimed at pushing non-oil bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.

While time-sensitive reefer cargo is seen as particularly affected, several mainline carriers have already halted all categories of Middle East shipments until further notice.

Maersk said in an operational update that it is suspending all new bookings between the Indian Subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and Upper Gulf markets including the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of Saudi Arabia.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC), Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express (ONE) have also paused Middle East bookings. ONE said it is assessing cargo already in transit or planned shipments “voyage by voyage.”

At the same time, carriers have announced steep war-risk or emergency surcharges ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 per standard container. Maersk, for example, introduced an “emergency freight increase” of $1,800 per TEU, $3,000 per FEU and $3,800 for reefer containers.

Exports piling up at Indian ports

The abrupt flow stoppage has left Indian ports facing a growing buildup of containers, with congestion expected to worsen as planned export boxes continue to gate in. Sunil Vaswani, executive director of the Container Shipping Lines Association (India), said cargo booked for Middle East destinations is now piling up across multiple ports—and warned that if the crisis is not resolved quickly, congestion will follow.

The impact could extend beyond the Middle East lane. India’s seasonal grape shipments to Europe, which had been picking up, now face longer or unpredictable transits due to vessel diversions around southern Africa, as Red Sea/Suez transits remain unstable.

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