Shipping to the EU - What is the cheapest option?
As your freight transportation volume grows, it's time to consider ocean freight. This is your guide to all things ocean, from choosing which mode is right for you to calculating costs and transit times.
Ocean Freight Meaning: What Is Ocean Freight?
Shipping containers are used for ocean freight transport, which involves shipping goods by sea.
The most common mode of transport for importers and exporters is ocean freight. In fact, 90% of everything is sent by sea and ocean freight. (By courier, standard air freight, express air freight) The other modes of international freight transportation are faster, but they are more expensive. In general, these other methods are used for smaller shipments, or for products of high value.
If ocean freight is too slow and air freight is too costly, freight forwarders offer express shipping. Faster than air freight, but may be less expensive. It ties in with expedited ocean services and premium trucking services and streamlines ocean freight processes.
Why Ship By Sea?
Approximately 10000 beer bottles can be held inside one container. And ocean freight is cheaper. Shipments over 500 kg are usually too heavy for air freight. Using this chargeable weight calculator will allow you to determine whether your shipment will be charged based on its actual weight or its dimensional weight for light shipments. FBX provides live international shipping rates.
In recent times, there have been fewer restrictions on what goods are considered dangerous and what goods are not. International law, national law, carrier organization regulations, and individual carrier regulations all contribute to defining and restricting what goods are considered dangerous. As a general rule, air cargo is more restricted than ocean freight, including: gases (e.g. lamp bulbs), all things flammable (e.g. As an example, perfume, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7), toxic or corrosive items (e.g. batteries), magnetic substances (e.g. Public health risks (such as speakers), oxidizers, and biochemical products (such as chemical medicines) are all included in the report. untanned hides). Visit the Hazardous Material Table to find out more.
Ocean freight emits a miniscule amount of CO2 emissions as compared to air freight. According to this research, when 2 tonnes are transported 5000 kilometers over water, it will emit 150 kg of CO2, while air freight will emit 6605 kg.
ocean freight
What Are The Downsides Of Ocean Freight?
There are about 30 times more speed differences between passenger jets and ocean liners. Jets cruise at 575 mph, while slow-steaming ocean liners move at 16-18 mph. Therefore, it is no surprise that shipping by air freight from China to the US usually takes at least 20 days longer than shipping by ocean freight.
The reliability of ocean freight is often compromised by port congestion, customs delays, and bad weather conditions. At present, tracking technologies in the air freight industry are often more advanced than those in ocean freight. Therefore, ocean freight is more likely to be misplaced than air freight. Shipments less than a container load are especially costly. Despite that, digitization has improved ocean freight reliability.
In general, ocean freight is more likely to be damaged or destroyed than air cargo. As a result, the shipment takes a lot longer to reach its destination, and ships move more frequently. shipspotting The cargo might fall off the ships, but do not be too concerned. A common urban myth claims 10000 containers are lost each year, but it's more like 546 of 120 million containers a year that fall into the drink. Even less likely is piracy. Some recent hotspots have included the Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Straits.
Ocean Freight Services
Two further options under ocean and sea freight are a full container load (FCL) and a less than container load (LCL). A LCL container can pack more than one shipment. The forwarder has more work to do, there is extra paperwork to be filed, along with the physical work of consolidating various shipments into one container before the main transit and dissolving the consolidation at the other end. This gives LCL three disadvantages:
It takes a long time for an LCL shipment to arrive as compared to an FCL shipment. Normally, it is recommended that you allow one or two weeks for LCL.
Having LCL increases the risk for damage, misplacement, and loss.
LCL costs more per cubic meter.
Considering the lower shipping rates for full containers, it might be worth using a full container once your shipment is large enough, even if your goods don't fill a full container. There is around a 15 cubic meter point for upgrading from less than container load to full container load.
Sea Freight Rates per kg
Most LCL shipments are priced by volume of goods, not by weight, with few exceptions.
You can use the following rules as a guide to selecting the most cost-effective mode for most products:
A shipment weighing more than 500 kg becomes uneconomical to ship by air.
In general, ocean freight costs around $2-$4 / kg, and a China-US shipment takes anywhere from 30-40 days.
A China-US shipment between 150 kg and 500 kg costs $5-8 per kilogram and takes 8-10 days via air freight.
Express air freight is faster, but more expensive.
A package weighing less than 150 kg can be shipped by courier (express freight).
The following are common ocean and sea freight rates and charges:
Ocean freight quotes and invoices will include these items: