Ocean freight moving services

THREE METHODS OF SEA FREIGHT CONTAINERS STUFFING:

1. A ‘LIVE LOAD’ – means that a dedicated International Moving Service trucker will deliver an ocean freight container to your location and wait while you load, secure and seal the container for the international shipment. Freeloading time may vary from one to two hours.
2. A ‘DROP AND PICK’ – means that an International Moving Service trucking company’s driver will deliver and leave the ocean freight container at your location for several days. Then he will return to pick up the loaded, secured and sealed sea freight container. The advantage of this service is that the shipper has more time to load and seal the container.
3. ‘IN A WAREHOUSE QUALITY LOADING’  means that the shipper self-delivers loose cargo to International Moving Service company’s warehouse or to a loading dock of a company which specializes in loading of cargo into sea freight containers for international shipments. Once goods are received and accepted by the shipping warehouse, it will be loaded and secured in the ocean freight container.

Shipper Owned Containers

When you book an FCL ocean freight shipment and request an ocean freight container, you ultimately “rent” the container from the ocean freight carrier (direct international shipping company). Containers “Rent” charges are included in the international ocean freight rate. However, the shipper should always remember that after the container is released at the destination and left at the carrier’s Container Yard (CY) to be unloaded, it must be returned to the ocean freight carrier’s CY within a certain amount of pre-designated time. Otherwise, container detention charges may apply.

If your destination facility is far from the international ocean freight carrier’s CY, then you should pay attention to possible additional charges on container detention.

For example, upon your cargo release at the destination seaport (CY), your sea freight container must continue to travel by rail thousands of miles away from the CY, in bond or not. That same empty container must be returned back to the ocean carrier’s CY.

In this situation, in order to avoid sea freight container detention charges and eliminate expenses related to the container return, the best option is to use S.O.C. which is a Shipper Owned Containers; a “One Way” sea freight container.

S.O.C, Means that you buy a container for the international ocean freight shipment at origin. The sea freight container is your property and you are not obligated to return it. After it is emptied, you may sell it, use for storage, destroy it, etc.

There are a lot of dealers in every country around the world that sells new and used multimodal sea freight containers. 

If you need a S.O.C, here are some things to consider:

• Does the international ocean carrier require a sea freight container condition survey before the container is loaded?
• Consider a crane used for lifting your ocean freight container on/from chassis or flatbed. Most container delivery trailers are designed to slide containers off to the ground & cannot handle the weight of a loaded sea freight container.
• Do not overload the sea freight container. Consider road weight and port cranes limitations.
• Do you have insurance of the type that will cover you in the event that the ocean freight container damages the cargo of others or the vessel? Most likely your insurance will cover your cargo, but not the damage you do to others.
• S.O.C may send a negative message to Customs. Customs knows that “Shipper Owned Containers” may mean a “one way trip” that can often result in junk or even hazardous cargo.

Shipper’s responsibilities on commodity and export and import shipping documents submitted for an ocean freight international shipment

In respect of dealing with a freight forwarder, shipper should clearly understand that he/she is responsible for accurately describing as well as the the legality of the commodity to ensure correct shipping documents submitted for an international shipment.

Carrier’s ocean freight bill of lading, the final document that acts as the title for the shipped goods, states ‘SHIPPER’S LOAD AND COUNT’ and ‘SAID BY SHIPPER TO CONTAIN’. That means that the international ocean carrier (and a freight forwarder who represents this carrier) is not responsible for information provided by the shipper on his commodity.

A freight forwarder should guide the shipper on international shipment procedures. However, it is the shipper’s responsibility to provide all necessary documents related to their international shipment that will be required by origin and destination country officials.

Below is the list of commonly used documents required to be submitted for an international shipment by sea:

MANDATORY DOCUMENTS:

1. Ocean freight bill of lading– Ocean Carrier’s transport document. Shows cargo routing, consignor, consignee, cargo description, etc. The title of shipping goods
2. For commercial international ocean freight shipment commercial invoice. Complete description of commodity being shipped.
3. For shipping household goods and personal belongings overseas – Valued Packing List An inventory list with the value assigned to each item being shipped.

Notice: some couriers require commercial invoices for personal international shipments as well. However, having a complete Valued Packing List submitted at origin upon destination, makes it easier to transfer your Valued Packing List in the form of a commercial invoice.