Nhava Sheva snarls North America/India service

Nhava Sheva snarls North America/India service    Hapag-Lloyd said Wednesday a vessel on its Indamex service was unable to complete its unloading and loading operations on Monday at the government-run terminal in Nhava Sheva, India's biggest container port, due to the replacement of rail mounted cranes at the port.
   'The terminal is currently experiencing berthing delays of up to five to seven days, impacting the sailing schedule of our Indamex service,' the line said in a notice.
   The vessel will re-berth at Nhava Sheva Friday to complete its operations before continuing to Mundra, its next port of call.
   The line first alerted customers of the issue in July, saying it was experiencing delays in Nhava Sheva, with some Indamex calls bypassed altogether. Hapag-Lloyd jointly runs the Indamex with CMA CGM, APL and its Grand Alliance partners NYK Line and OOCL.
   The eight-ship service has a rotation of Karachi, Nhava Sheva, Damietta, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Port Said, Jeddah, and Karachi, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data.
   India's biggest container gateway has three terminals, one each operated by APM Terminals, DP World, and the Indian government. The Indamex calls at the government-run Jawaharlal Nehru facility. The port has been plagued in recent months with congestion, as containerized demand through India rises without equivalent expansion of port facilities in Mumbai. A plan to build a fourth terminal that would roughly double Nhava Sheva’s annual capacity has been delayed on numerous occasions, with a bidder still yet to be awarded.