Sea freight

Sea Freight is a method of transporting large amounts of goods using carrier ships. Goods are packed into containers and then loaded onto a vessel. A typical cargo ship can carry around 18,000 containers, which means that sea freight is a cost-efficient way to transport high quantities over large distances.

There are a number of ways in which sea freight can be transported.

• FCL or Full container load, which you purchase one or more full containers to send on a ship.
• LCL or Less than container load, where your products share a container as you may not have a full container’s worth. Once they reach their destination, the container’s contents are divided once more.
• RORO or Roll on roll off, where your products do not leave the vehicle they are in to go onto the cargo ship. The vehicle simply drives onto the ship, and then drives off the other end.
• Dry bulk shipping, used for some specific items, which are deposited into the hold of the ship instead of travelling in a container.

Sea freight is economically and environmentally superior to other forms of product delivery service, but only if you are looking to transport large quantities or if the destination country is far away. However, even with the option of LCL, courier services and Air Freight may still be better options depending on the product in question.