Maritime Transportation And Shipping Talk

I recently did some shipments by Air and Sea. They were of same type, size and weight. The process of getting the shipments ready was very different in many ways. Air transportation has many restrictions that you don’t find in maritime transportation. In a LCL maritime shipment the restrictions are not many as long as you comply with the appropriate documentation to follow your shipment. In the air type shipments you have restrictions regarding the content and the packaging has also to be of approved type for air use. Pressure vessels, batteries, liquids, electronics, they all have some restrictions that doesn’t apply to same shipment going by maritime transport.

Technorati Tags: Maritime Logistics

My shipment consisted of 4 pallets weighing approx. 565 kg each. The pallets were of small volume but since the product was a manufactured steel product the weight was rather high. In sending it by air, the first question that was asked was the packing material; in this instance it was pallets made of plastic so there was no problem. If pallets would have been made from wood I would have to have a certificate as to the wood conforming with international law in regards to fumigation and or made in such a way that it comes under that man made section of processed wood. Any wood used in international transportation would have to conform to the heat treatment law for products of this kind. Oh, it also applies to your export product if it is made from wood.
These laws apply to any kind of transportation.

The product itself was made from steel and was coated with a primer only. It was completely dry so there were no gas emissions to be traced. It was wrapped in a clear pallet wrap so all part was clearly visible. Certificates, export declaration and commercial invoice followed the shipment so it was clear sailing both by air and by sea. The writer has been doing this kind of things for many years and don’t usually have much problems getting a shipment out the door but I can easily see how it can be a real headache for somebody that don’t do this kind of things on a more regular basis. There are always many small details to pay attention to and they can easily be overlooked.

The main reason for this kind of split shipment by air and sea was the time limitations on the first part of the shipment. It had to get to the destination as fast as overall possible. The continued part(s) of the shipments had more time and therefore a substantial cost savings using maritime transportation as the preferred mode.

Air transportation in itself is costly but I had various quotes on cost ranging 25-30% in difference. However the same goes for sea, but not as much of a difference, only 10-18% as a comparison. Volume shipping plays a great role here in obtaining good pricing on the transportation.