Truckers say cargo logjams at Nhava Sheva are testing supply chains

Container hauliers serving terminals at India’s Nhava Sheva port (JNPA) continue to voice concerns over lengthy vehicle turn times and low productivity.

The pressure on them seems in large part rooted in a mismatch of ocean and landside capacity at the port, which, along with Mundra, accounts for roughly 60% of India’s containerised trade.

Thanks to carriers’ expanding networks and ever-larger box ships, plus exporters trying to maximise shipments before the fiscal year-end on 31 March, Nhava Sheva has seen unusual volume growth of 23% last month, year on year, according to the latest data.

Sporadic vessel-bunching, due to the Red Sea-linked diversions, have also been a factor testing JNPA’s previously seamless port flow, say industry sources.

Despite intermodal rail service enhancements, over-the-road freight accounts for the majority of volumes passing through Nhava Sheva, making quicker vehicle turnarounds critical to its supply chain fluidity.

Truckers mainly blame BMCT, or PSA Mumbai, the newest concessionaire at Nhava Sheva, for the gate slowdown, rejecting its claims that the congestion had been resolved.

“The traffic congestion is causing significant inconvenience to our members, drivers, and the trade community,” said the Nhava Sheva Container Operators’ Welfare Association, which represents truck owners involved in container moves in the harbour.

But PSA told trade stakeholders the “off-and-on congestion” had been a result of volume changes across terminals, rather than through a single terminal.

The Singapore-based operator said: “We will continue to focus on the efficiency of our gates and yard, but there will always be a limit to how much we can handle within a given period of time, and we therefore ask again that we collectively try to avoid the surging which will definitely assist in minimising truck waiting time.”

“We have added the capacity required to handle the expected trade growth and additional demand, but there will always be an issue when trucks swarm to any one of the JNP terminals,” it added.

But the association said that as the trucking delays persist, containers for loading ran the risk of being shut out.

BMCT saw 870 containership calls from April through January, substantially more than the 704 in the period a year prior, and container volumes soared to 1.84m teu, from 1.7m teu, data shows.

Meanwhile, also due to the Red Sea crisis, Nhava Sheva has reported a meteoric rise in transhipment handling, another factor driving the port throughput.

Additionally, major carriers, Maersk in particular, are now using ultra-large container vessels on services out of India, which typically involve more container exchanges per call.

Meanwhile, PSA is close to opening phase 2 of its development at Nhava Sheva, providing a further 2.4m teu of capacity, meaning port capacity is expected to be adequate for near-term cargo volume projections.

But the landside pressure could challenge this if volumes continue to build.