Sea transport
Ocean Shipping
When you start shipping a lot of freight, you should start thinking about ocean freight. The movement of commodities by sea in shipping containers is referred to as ocean freight transit. The most popular means of transportation used by importers and exporters is ocean freight. In actuality, sea freight and ocean freight account for 90% of all shipments of products. The other forms of shipping goods internationally (courier, air freight, express) are all quicker but also more expensive. Smaller shipments and items with a high value typically use these alternative ways of transportation.
Transporting products by container ship across defined sea lanes is referred to as ocean freight. The cross-border trade that enables the transfer of enormous quantities of products between nations depends on this supply chain connection. Depending on the kind of items you are shipping, you have a variety of shipping alternatives. Full container load (FCL) shipping refers to the packaging and transportation of products in containers that are 20 or 40 feet in length. LCL, or less than container load, refers to lesser amounts in which shippers share container space because their volumes aren't sufficient to fill a complete container on their own. In addition to other modes of transportation, air freight is frequently chosen by importers for small, light, or expensive items. Although more expensive, air cargo is quicker and more secure. Additionally, it's crucial to be aware that laws for air cargo are stricter than those for maritime freight.
Why transport by sea?
Value and Capacity
One container holds 10,000 beer bottles, thus it's both capacious and economical. Additionally, shipping via ocean is less expensive.
Fewer limitations
What commodities are deemed unsafe for shipment is defined and constrained by international law, national law, carrier organization laws, and individual carrier restrictions. In general, more items are prohibited for air cargo than for ocean freight, such as gases (such as lightbulbs), everything flammable (such as smartphones and perfume), toxic or corrosive items (such as batteries), magnetic materials (such as speakers), oxidizers and biochemical products (such as chemical medicines), and items that pose a threat to the public's health (e.g. untanned hides).
Emissions
When compared to air freight, ocean freight emits a little amount of CO2. According to this study, 2 tonnes transported across the ocean for 5,000 kilometers will result in 150 kg of CO2 emissions as opposed to 6,605 kg of CO2 emissions when transported by air.
What drawbacks are there to ocean freight?
Aircraft travel at a speed of nearly 30 times that of ocean liners; passenger jets average 575 mph while ocean liners steam along at 16–18 mph. It comes as no surprise, then, that an ocean freight cargo from China to the US typically takes at least 20 days longer than an air freight.
Time - Aircraft travel at a speed of nearly 30 times that of ocean liners; passenger jets average 575 mph while ocean liners steam along at 16–18 mph. It comes as no surprise, then, that an air freight cargo from China to the US typically takes at least 20 days longer than an ocean freight voyage.
Reliability - Ocean freight typically takes far longer to arrive than air freight due to port congestion, customs holdups, and severe weather. Air freight tracking technology is currently frequently more sophisticated than maritime freight tracking. This indicates that compared to air freight, maritime freight is more likely to be lost. Particularly when the maritime freight is smaller than a container load, this is true. However, with the advent of technology, maritime freight is becoming more dependable.
Protection - Compared to air cargo, ocean freight is more likely to sustain damage or be destroyed. That is because ships are more susceptible to movement and because the travel time is much longer. However, you shouldn't be too concerned about maritime freight falling from ships. The urban legend claims that 10,000 containers are lost annually, although the actual number is more like 546 of the 120 million container moves that occur annually. Piracy is even less likely. The Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Straits have all been hotspots recently.
