Mediterranean Shipping Co. is moving to reinstate its “Indus Express” network on the India-US East Coast trade lane, a mere month after withdrawing the weekly loop in response to bearish market fundamentals that have now seemingly flipped.

Multiple industry sources who spoke with the Journal of Commerce confirmed that MSC is set to resume scheduled Indus Express sailings out of India in the third week of August.

That comes as spot rates on the India-USEC trade have jumped 84% in just the past four weeks.

“MSC has even put out feelers to some of its major customers about a potential ad hoc sailing in late July to avoid losing traditional volumes to competitors,” said a forwarder executive who didn’t want to be identified.

Sources also said the Geneva-based carrier has reached out to terminal authorities at India’s Nhava Sheva Port to secure a fixed-day berthing window for the returning service. MSC enjoys berth flexibility at Mundra Port through its dedicated terminal operations there.

MSC was not available for comment.

The withdrawal of the Indus Express service, coupled with a pickup in sourcing activity by US importers, significantly tightened ocean capacity on the trade lane, triggering a sharp rebound in cargo booking rates in recent weeks.

The supply squeeze has been exacerbated by carriers blanking Indian calls for structural reasons. Ocean Network Express’ (ONE’s) WIN service had only one sailing in June, and sources are also reporting similar vessel cutbacks in July for the Asian liner. CMA CGM’s Indamex loop also has an upcoming void call for India in July, available schedule data shows.

“There is a massive surge in booking demand [for North America],” an executive at a European carrier told the Journal of Commerce. “We are now getting 15,000 to 18,000 bookings every week, compared with the normal 7,000 to 8,000 space buys.”

Another liner executive said the suspension of the Indus Express service and its quick resumption underscores how rapidly supply-demand fundamentals can swing in a volatile trade environment.

“It may not be as crazy as the pandemic disruption experience, but customers are chasing carriers for space, left and right,” the source said.

With lead India-USEC connections operating full ships over the past couple of weeks and effectively sold out through July, incidents of cargo rolling are widespread. Additionally, carriers are increasingly canceling confirmed contract bookings while selectively picking up higher-paying spot cargo, sources say.

“The strong demand for USEC services has undoubtedly made vessel space more difficult to secure, but the operational impact extends well beyond bookings,” Ashish Sheth, chairman and managing director of Sarjak Container Lines, told the Journal of Commerce. “As capacity tightens and schedules become less predictable, exporters have to continually realign production, inland transport, documentation, and delivery commitments.”

Rates, meanwhile, have popped on the booking surge.

Platts, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global, pegged India-USEC spot rates at $4,067 per FEU as of July 1, up 11% on the week. Rates were at $2,210/FEU on June 5.

And sources say Nhava Sheva-New York spot rate indications for certain late-July sailings are near $5,500 per TEU and $6,000 per FEU.