The ability for businesses to ship goods overseas is by sea through ocean freight. Ocean shipping has brought numerous worldwide economic benefits. About 90 percent of everything we buy comes through ocean transport. Must by container ships with more than 200 million shipping containers across the world.
Billions of tons of goods are transported every year along trade routes. Ocean freight uses high-capacity ships which transit regular routes on fixed schedules. Though the base cost of ocean freight is high, it scales pretty well and this makes it a popular choice for transporting goods.
In this article, we try to cover the basics of ocean freight to help you understand how international shipping works.
What is Ocean Freight?
Ocean Freight is a method of transporting large quantities of goods through the sea. Products are packed into large containers which are loaded onto vessels sailed to the destination country.
What are the Major Ocean Shipping Lines?
The largest ocean shipping carrier in the world is the Maersk Line. Other major ocean shipping lines include the
Mediterranean Shipping Company,
- Maersk Line
- CMA CGM,
- Hapag Lloyd,
- Evergreen Marine,
- China Shipping
- COSCO.
What are the typical cargo Shipped Through Ocean?
The shipment agent can identify whether the ocean freight suits your shipment. A rule of thumb is that shipments with weight more than 100kg or those consisting of multiple cartons usually suit sea freight.
Though there are some restrictions regarding the commodities which can be shipped through sea freight, most items are allowed. Dangerous goods are moved under specific conditions while perishable goods are transported in appropriate containers. You can even transport refrigerated or frozen items and even products like sugar that need to be kept dry during the transit.
How International Ocean Freight Works?
In ocean freight shipping, goods are packed in shipping containers and the freight forwarder books container or space with the shipping agent. Shipment moves to the port and passes through customs at the point of origin. Goods are loaded into full containers or shared containers depending on the volume and put on the cargo ship for transportation.
When they reach the destination, goods pass through customs again generally arranged by the shipping agent and upon payment of duties and taxes, released for delivery. The goods are delivered to the receiver either in the same container or on pallets.
What Type of Ocean Cargo is Sent by Sea?
There are two types of cargo shipments for ocean freight. LCL or Less Than Container Load shipments suit the goods which are too less to fill a whole container.
In such a condition, the goods are loaded into a shared container with others rather than a dedicated container. FCL or Full Container Load, on the other hand, is good for high volumes of goods which fill entire container.
courtesy: https://www.linbis.com/ocean-freight/