Carriers attempt extra-loaders to US, Europe to capitalize on Indian export rush

Ocean carriers on Indian westbound trades to the US East Coast and North Europe are deploying extra-loaders to capitalize on soaring booking rates and buoyant export demand, market sources say.

CMA CGM seems to be moving faster than competitors to seize on the market boom. The French liner has already had an additional India-Europe “Epic” service sailing scheduled this week while marshaling resources to operate an India-USEC “Indamex” service ad-hoc voyage in August, freight forwarder sources told the Journal of Commerce.

The 5,090-TEU CMA CGM Dolphin with an estimated arrival in Nhava Sheva of July 17 is said to be the first Epic extra-loader, the sources added.

“More extra-loader operations are contingent on vessel availability,” said a source who didn’t want to be identified.

Additionally, sources believe a planned return of the Indamex to a regular Red Sea/Suez Canal routing next month should help CMA CGM ship more boxes to North America by avoiding the structural gaps currently in the rotation.

Cargo rollovers rising

With vessel space increasingly scarce, cargo rollovers on certain premier westbound services out of India’s key gateway ports of Nhava Sheva and Mundra have been as high as 2,000 to 3,000 TEUs per sailing in recent weeks, industry sources say.

“Capacity cuts via blank sailings or service withdrawals and a simultaneous pickup in overall demand have led to freight rates spiking significantly compared with just a few weeks ago, but [Indian] shippers still cannot secure all the space they need even at these elevated rates,” Sanjay Tejwani, CEO of consulting firm 365 Logistics, told the Journal of Commerce. “With the traditional peak season underway and continued geopolitical uncertainty impacting global shipping and fuel prices, the situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.”

Carrier sources in India say they have been able to substantially push Indian exports to the USEC by pooling allocations released from the Middle East region. Several recent Indamex and TPI (Hapag-Lloyd) larger vessel departures out of Nhava Sheva/Mundra have lifted up to 6,000 TEUs per call, an increase of 1,000 to 1,500 TEUs a week per service from the levels normally handled.

Maersk’s “MECL” service on the USEC lane is also said to have boosted capacity from a staggered phase-in of bigger vessels through 2026. The carrier declined to comment.

Meanwhile, carriers have already pushed spot rates for Nhava Sheva-New York bookings on early-August sailings up to $7,500 to $8,500 per FEU, data indicates. Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, assessed India-USEC spot rates at $6,725/FEU as of July 16, up 25% week over week and the highest since August 2024.

Forwarder executives believe carriers have an opportunity to hold elevated India-USEC rates longer than previously anticipated, with deployed capacity tightening further following the exit of Ocean Network Express’ “WIN” service, which also meant Cosco Shipping and HMM losing their slot rights on that loop. Cosco’s bookings to North America are now confined to weekly slots on the Indamex, estimated at 1,400 to 1,500 TEUs.

Industry estimates point to a near 30% decline in overall average nominal weekly capacity on the India-USEC route because of the service cutbacks, down from about 38,500 TEUs in Week 23 across six services to approximately 28,000 TEUs in Week 31 across four services.

Container volumes from India to all of the US, meanwhile, came in at 104,250 TEUs in June, down from 110,520 TEUs in May, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce. June’s imports were up marginally year over year.

This article was originally published by the Journal of Commerce on July 17, 2026.