NASHIK: As geopolitical tensions tighten their grip on maritime routes, banana trade is battling its fiercest storm in years, with thousands of tonnes of fruit and the livelihoods behind them, hanging in the balance. Banana exports from Maharashtra to West Asia have been thrown into disarray, with nearly 150 refrigerated containers, each loaded with 20 tonnes of the fruit, stranded at Mumbai’s JNPA port and nearby private yards, while 35 more are stuck at Gujarat’s Mundra port. On the high seas, the situation is no better. Several consignments already en route to West Asian buyers have been forced into holding zones or diverted to Oman’s Port of Salalah, where they were hastily unloaded and sold at whatever price the local market offered. Back home, close to 4,000 tonnes of export ready bananas lie in cold storages across Jalgaon, Solapur and Pune, losing value by the day. Exporters said some shipping lines had cautiously resumed dispatches over the last few days, but at a punishing cost. Around 140-150 containers have now left JNPA port, rerouted through ports that are currently functional – Salalah and Sohar in Oman, and Khorfakkan in the UAE – before being forwarded onward to Dubai and other West Asian destinations. “Before the conflict, freight was about $800 per container. Now it’s hovering around $6,000 just to get shipments to Dubai,” Nashik-based exporter Sandeep Agrahari said, flagging the unprecedented spike in costs. “Everything is being pushed through Salalah and Sohar first. It’s the only way out,” he said. But these “only way out” ports are now choking with congestion, slowing cargo clearance and heightening exporters’ fears of further delays. Agrahari has 35 containers stuck across the logistical chain – eight at JNPA, five at Mundra and 22 near ports in Oman and other regions. “With options dwindling, I am contemplating moving even the stranded JNPA containers to Oman despite soaring expenses, if only to sell them locally or reroute them to the UAE markets before the fruit loses value,” Agrahari said. The blow is severe because the West Asian market accounts for nearly 80% of the state’s banana shipments. Maharashtra typically exports seven lakh tonnes annually via about 35,000 containers to key destinations, including Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, and Yemen. The conflict’s shadow is visible on pricing. Export rates have collapsed from Rs 23-27 per kg to Rs 13-14, and domestic prices have tumbled to Rs 7-8 per kg, deepening the anxiety of both farmers and exporters.