Forwarders on the Asia-Europe trades are turning their attention to a mounting crisis on the India/Middle East–Europe route. A European freight forwarder told The Loadstar that getting shipments away has become “nigh-on impossible,” with allocations from shipping lines failing to meet demand. Carriers are cancelling bookings instead of rolling cargo, forcing customers to restart the booking process from scratch.
CMA CGM has moved quickly to capitalise on the imbalance, announcing a peak season surcharge (PSS) of $500 per container on India–North Europe and India–Mediterranean routes effective 15 July, then raising it to
An analysis of Xeneta’s eeSea liner database by The Loadstar reveals that out of 248 scheduled liner services between India and Europe from March to 8 July, 51 were cancelled—43 blanked and eight lost to delays. This cut pro forma capacity from 1.59 million TEU to 1.32 million TEU. CMA CGM’s EPIC service (with Cosco and OOCL) saw only 13 of 18 scheduled sailings depart, reducing offered capacity by 49,000 TEU. MSC’s IPAK service blanked three sailings in May–June and omitted several North European port calls, further squeezing capacity. ONE’s IOX service operated just 11 of 19 planned voyages, with capacity falling from 103,000 TEU to 62,000 TEU.
Schedule reliability is also a major concern. Sea-Intelligence data for April–May shows only 27.3% of IOX vessels arrived on time, compared with 45.2% on EPIC and 88.2% on IPAK. MSC’s IPAK was outperformed only by two Gemini services, which achieved 90.9% and 92.3% on-time arrivals and even added extra loaders to boost capacity by 10,000 TEU. For shippers and forwarders, the combination of blank sailings, port omissions, and poor reliability means longer delays and higher costs, with no immediate relief in sight as peak season demand continues to strain the trade.