Shipments, Rates and Charges from TopAlpha Ocean Freight
In order to ship freight in large volumes, you need to consider ocean freight. Your guide to everything ocean, from choosing the best mode to calculating costs and transit times.
Ocean Freight Meaning: What Is Ocean Freight?
Containerized sea freight transport involves the transport of goods by sea.
The most common means of transport used by importers and exporters is by ocean. 9 out of 10 shipments are sent by ocean freight or sea freight. All the other modes of international freight transport (courier, standard air freight, express air freight) are faster, but they are also more expensive. Smaller shipments, and products with high values, are typically sent via these other modes.
When ocean freight is too slow and air freight is too expensive, some freight forwarders offer express shipping. Faster and less expensive than air freight, this service can be nearly as expedient as air freight. This method streamlines ocean freight processes and ties in the faster ocean services with premium trucking services.
Ocean Freight forwarder Why Ship By Sea?
We can hold 10000 beer bottles in one container! And ocean freight is cheaper. The cost of air freight typically exceeds 500 kg for shipments weighing more than that. The chargeable weight calculator can help you determine whether you will pay by actual weight or dimensional weight for light shipments. You can see live international shipping rates by visiting our FBX index.
It is easier to define and restrict what goods are considered dangerous for transportation if the rules of international law, national law, carrier organization regulations, and carrier specific regulations are followed. Gases (such as argon) are generally restricted as air freight rather than ocean freight. lamp bulbs), all things flammable (e.g. ), toxic or corrosive items (e.g. batteries), magnetic substances (e.g. Public health risks (e.g. speakers), oxidizers, and biochemical products (e.g. chemical medicines) are also evaluated. untanned hides). Visit the Hazardous Material Table to find out more.
As compared with air freight, ocean freight's CO2 emissions are minuscule. As an example, when 2 tonnes are shipped over 5000 kilometers by ocean freight, there are 150 kg of CO2 emissions, while on average, 6605 kg of CO2 emissions are released by air freight.
ocean freight
What Are The Downsides Of Ocean Freight?
Speed planes move about 30 times faster than ocean liners; passenger jets cruise at 575 mph, while slow-steaming ocean liners move at 16-18 mph. Thus, it should come as no surprise that an air freight shipment from China to the US usually takes 20 days longer than an ocean freight shipment.
Generally, there are more delays in ocean freight due to port congestion, customs delays, and poor weather conditions than in air freight. In most cases, tracking technology in air freight is more advanced than that in ocean freight. The odds of losing ocean freight are higher than those of losing air freight, so ocean freight is more likely to be lost. In particular, this is true when the ocean shipment is less than a container load. Due to digitization, ocean freight has become more reliable.
Ocean freight is more likely to be damaged or destroyed than air freight. Because it is in transit for a lot longer, and because ships are subject to more movement. You shouldn't worry too much about cargo falling from ships. Rather than 10 thousand containers per year being lost in the drink, it's more like 546 out of 120 million movements in a year. Even less likely is piracy. Horn of Africa, Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Strait have been hotspots in recent years.
Ocean Freight Services
A full container load (FCL) or a less than container load (LCL) can be used for ocean and sea freight. A LCL container is used to pack several shipments together. For the forwarder, it involves more paperwork as well as the physical work of consolidating various shipments into a container before the main transit and de-consolidating those shipments at the other end. This gives LCL three disadvantages:
Shipping LCLs requires more time than shipping FCLs. Normally, it is recommended that you allow one or two weeks for LCL.
LCL increases the likelihood of damage, misplacement, and loss.
LCL costs more per cubic meter.
Shipping rates for FCL are usually lower, so you may want to use a full container once your shipment is large enough, even if your goods do not fill the container to the brim. About 15 cubic meters is the tipping point to upgrade from LCL to FCL (the smallest container size is a 20 footer).
Sea Freight Rates per kg
Most LCL shipping is priced by volume only, not by weight, except for especially heavy items.
Choose the most cost-effective mode for your product using these rules of thumb:
A shipment weighing more than 500 kg becomes uneconomical to ship by air.
The cost of ocean freight is usually $2-4/kg, and a shipment from China to the US typically takes 30-40 days.
An air cargo shipment from China to the United States of 150 kg to 500 kg costs $5-8 per kilo, and it takes 8-10 days.
The cost of express air freight is higher, but it is quicker.
The delivery of packages less than 150 kg can be economically handled by courier (express freight).
Ocean and sea freight rates and charges you will see in your quote include the following:
On ocean freight quotes and invoices, you can expect to see the following items: