The TopAlpha Ocean Freight: Rates, Quotes, and Charges

In order to ship freight in large volumes, you need to consider ocean freight. From choosing the right mode of transportation to calculating transit times and costs, here is your guide to ocean travel.

Ocean Freight Meaning: What Is Ocean Freight?
By using shipping containers, goods can be transported by sea.

خدمات الشحن والتخليص الجمركي The most common mode of transport for importers and exporters is ocean freight. 90% of all goods are shipped via ocean freight and sea freight. (By courier, standard air freight, express air freight) The other modes of international freight transportation are faster, but they are more expensive. Smaller shipments, and products with high values, are typically sent via these other modes.

Ocean freight can be slow, but air freight can be expensive. Some freight forwarders offer express shipping in such a case. As a result, this service is often faster and less expensive than air freight. In its system, ocean freight processes are streamlined and only higher-quality trucking services and faster ocean services are used.

Why Ship By Sea?
The container holds a whopping 10000 beer bottles! And ocean freight is cheaper. If your shipment weighs more than 500 kg, air freight is too expensive. If your shipment is light, you can use this chargeable weight calculator to determine whether you will be charged by actual weight or by dimensional weight. Our FBX index provides live rates for international shipping.
The number of restrictions is fewer International law, national law, carrier organization regulations, and individual carrier regulations all play a role in defining and restricting what is considered dangerous for transport. As a general rule, more products are restricted for air freight than ocean freight, including gases (e.g. lamp bulbs), all things flammable (e.g. For example, perfume, Samsung Galaxy Note 7); toxic or corrosive substances (e.g. batteries), magnetic substances (e.g. Speakers), oxidizers, and biochemical products (for instance, chemical medicines), and public health risks (for example, pollution). untanned hides). You can find more information in the Hazardous Material Table.
Ocean freight emits much less CO2 than air freight. According to this research, the transportation of 2 tonnes by ocean freight for 5000 kilometers will result in 150 kg of CO2 emissions, compared to 6605 kg of CO2 emissions by air freight.

ocean freight
What Are The Downsides Of Ocean Freight?
Passenger jets cruise at 575 mph, while slow-steaming ocean liners travel at 16-18 mph. The air freight route from China to the US, therefore, usually takes at least 20 days longer than ocean freight.
The reliability of ocean freight is often compromised by port congestion, customs delays, and bad weather conditions. The tracking technology used in air freight is usually more advanced than that used in ocean freight at this time. Thus, ocean freight is more likely to get lost than air freight. This is particularly true for ocean shipments that are less than a container load. As a result of digitization, ocean freight is becoming more reliable.
Unlike air cargo, ocean freight is more likely to be damaged or destroyed. This is because it is in transit for a much longer time, and because ships move more easily. Do not worry too much about ocean cargo falling off of ships. According to urban myth, ten thousand containers per year are lost in the drink, but actually it's more like 546 of 120 million movements per year. Even less likely is piracy. The Horn of Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Straits have been hot spots in recent years.
Ocean Freight Services
In the maritime sector, two different options exist: full container loads (FCLs) and less than container loads (LCLs). Several shipments are packed into one container with LCL. A forwarder has more work to do; additional paperwork is involved along with having to consolidate the shipments before a main transit and then de-consolidate them once they arrive at the other end. This gives LCL three disadvantages:

Shipments in LCL take longer to arrive than those in FCL. It's usually recommended to allow an additional one or two weeks for LCL.
With LCL, there is a higher risk of damage, misplacement, and loss.
LCL costs more per cubic meter.
The shipping costs for FCL are lower, so using a full container may be the best choice if your shipment is large enough, even if your goods don't fill the entire container. 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
A majority of LCL shipments are priced based on volume rather than weight, with the exception of particularly heavy goods.

The following rules of thumb should be used when selecting the best mode of transportation for most products:

Shipments weighing more than 500 kg are economically unviable via air freight.
Shipments from China to the United States take about 30-40 days by ocean freight.
A China-US shipment between 150 kg and 500 kg costs $5-8 per kilogram and takes 8-10 days via air freight.
The express air freight service is quicker but more expensive.
Those packages weighing less than 150 kg are best transported by courier (express freight).

The following are common ocean and sea freight rates and charges:
On ocean freight quotes and invoices, you should find the following items: