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Sea Freight Solutions: Everything You Need to Know About Ocean Transport
If you’re looking to transport goods internationally, you have various options. One popular choice is sea freight or ocean transport. In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to know about sea freight, including the types of cargo that can be transported and the benefits of this mode of transportation.
What is Sea Freight or Ocean Transport?
Sea freight refers to transporting goods or people by boat, ship, sailboat, or inland vessel over all distances that vessels can travel over water. This includes oceans, lakes, canals, and rivers. There are two main types of sea freight:
Sea freight is essential to the global economy, as many goods are transported this way. Despite the rise of air transport, sea freight remains a cost-effective and popular means of long-haul freight transport, accounting for about 80% of international cargo export.
Advantages of Sea Freight
Sea freight has several advantages over other modes of transport, including:
- Cost-effectiveness: Regularly scheduled loads and the ability to transport sizable and heavy payloads make sea freight a cost-effective option for long-haul transport.
- Efficiency: Ocean transport is an efficient way to move large volumes of goods over long distances.
- Safety: Shipping by sea is generally safe, with ships designed to withstand extreme weather conditions.
- Environmental friendliness: Compared to other modes of transport, sea freight has a lower environmental impact.
Types of Cargo Transported by Sea
The following types of cargo can be transported by sea:
- Container cargo: This includes items such as computers, meat, clothing, textiles, and toys. Containers provide protection against extreme temperatures, moisture, and weather conditions.
- Liquid bulk: Dangerous goods fall into this category, such as fuel oil, gasoline, and crude oil. These goods are shipped on large tankers with specific environmental and safety requirements.
- Dry cargo: This includes sand, salt, sugar, cement, iron ore, coal, and grain. Some goods can liquefy in transit, posing a safety hazard that requires special precautions.
- Breakbulk: This refers to individual or general cargo goods such as household items, vehicle parts, and agricultural machinery.
- Roll-on / Roll-off (RoRo): This method involves cargo driven on and off a shipping vessel, such as vehicles with large dimensions and heavy weights.
- Reefer cargo: Items in this category need to stay fresh and cool during transport, including refrigerated and frozen goods.
Factors to Consider When Shipping by Sea
If you’re planning to ship goods by sea, you’ll need to consider the following factors:
- Desired type of freight transport
- Container size
- Transit time
- Load type
- Cargo weight
- Load dimension
- Incoterm (terms used to facilitate international trade)
At CSI, we offer smart, safe, and secure solutions for oversized freight that doesn’t fit into standard containers. We can book the space or container for your goods and take care of the loading process, forwarding your cargo overseas to the importer at the destination port. Our flexible itineraries include port-to-port, door-to-port, port-to-door, or door-to-door, with inland haulage solutions for pickup and delivery by truck.
Contact Us for Your Ocean Shipment & Transportation Needs
At CSI, we specialize in containerized freight transport and cargo export. We tailor our solutions to meet your unique requirements, delivering your cargo to any address worldwide. Whether you’re looking for long-haul or multimodal transport solutions, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our sea freight services.
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LOGISTIC SOLUTIONS ARE OFTEN THOUGHT TO BE COSTLY—BUT THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE.
EXCEPTIONAL SERVICES
Having been in the industry for nearly three decades, we are equipped with the network and resources to ensure your cargo reaches its destination safely and on time.
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From collecting the cargo to delivering it, our flexible fees suit our clients’ needs.
PREMIUM SUPPORT
We take conventional cargo shipping to the next level by offering our clients complete support—from customs documentation to clearance, commercial invoicing, and export licenses—we assist our clients throughout the process.