Ports

Colombo Transhipment Surge Creates India-US Trade Bottlenecks

Growing reliance on Colombo as a transhipment gateway is straining India-US trade lanes with mounting congestion and cost pressures for forwarders and shippers. Indian ports including Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Tuticorin, Cochin and Chennai face elevated rolled cargo risks. When mainline services skip Colombo calls to recover schedules, South India shipments miss planned connections. CH Robinson cautioned that capacity availability involves more than securing vessel slots. Feeder vessel timing, container supply, dwell periods during transhipment, and mainline port calls determine whether containers reach onward vessels. The congestion intensified as carriers divert services from traditional Middle East transhipment hubs due to the war between the US and Iran. Hapag-Lloyd this week notified customers of two-to-three day delays ahead, citing yard density exceeding 130% across all terminals combined with adverse weather conditions.