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World Economy
Apr 08, 2026

Surging diesel prices mute Mumbai’s historic Sassoon Dock, threatening fishing livelihoods

AI Summary
A sharp rise in diesel costs has forced Mumbai’s iconic Sassoon Dock into an unprecedented standstill, crippling the city’s fishing trade and endangering the livelihoods of coastal communities across India and Asia, while a tentative Iran‑US‑Israel ceasefire offers only a tentative relief.

Since its inauguration in 1875, Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock has transitioned from a Gulf‑bound trading hub to the beating heart of the city’s fishing sector. Today, the once‑bustling harbour is marked by an unsettling silence.

Rows of fishing boats sit idle under the morning sun, their colourful flags fluttering against the skyline. The familiar chorus of net‑unloading, diesel‑engine rumble, ice‑hauling and fish‑monger shouts has faded.

Boat owner Shekhar Chogle, weather‑worn from years at sea, has been compelled to keep his vessel moored since the conflict began. Plummeting earnings, relentless labour costs and diesel prices soaring above $1.20 per litre ($4.54 per US gallon) have rendered fishing operations virtually impossible.

The dock’s diesel pump now sits abandoned, draped with a wilted marigold garland. A worker returns from the petrol station empty‑handed, his wooden barrow holding six unfilled containers, underscoring the fuel shortage that has crippled cooperatives that normally supply affordable fuel, ice and equipment to fishers.

This fuel crisis reverberates beyond Mumbai, affecting fishing communities throughout India and wider Asia. Fishers confront a stark choice: stay ashore and forfeit income, or brave the sea at the risk of further financial loss, jeopardising both individual families and entire coastal economies.

A recently announced two‑week ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel offers a glimmer of hope, yet analysts warn that normalising fuel supplies will take time.

For Chogle, the clock is ticking. “Our income has dropped significantly since we have not been able to take our boat out to sea,” he lamented.

Despite the soaring fuel costs, a few boats still venture out. Morning markets persist, though catches are modest. Women in vibrant saris haggle over the limited fish, and a mother balancing a baby on her hip scrutinises each purchase, weighing cost against necessity.

“If diesel prices don’t come down soon, I don’t know how we’ll survive,” Chogle warned, encapsulating the precarious future of Mumbai’s once‑thriving fishing trade.