Sea Freight in Syria from Dubai and Jebel Ali to Global Markets

Non-containerised cargo

Breakbulk, out-of-gauge and heavy-lift ocean cargo

Breakbulk is cargo loaded into the hold of the vessel as individual pieces rather than inside a container: crates, bundles, steel coils, structural sections and machinery on skids. Out-of-gauge cargo sits on a flat rack or an open top but overhangs it in width, height or length. Heavy-lift is cargo whose weight puts it beyond standard container gear.

These moves are engineered rather than simply booked. We produce a lifting and stowage plan, work from the lifting points and the centre of gravity given by the manufacturer, agree the gear with the terminal, and confirm road and crane access at both ends before the piece leaves the factory.

Chargeable volume

How ocean freight is measured and charged

Ocean LCL freight is charged on a weight-or-measurement basis, written W/M. The carrier charges whichever is greater, the gross weight in metric tonnes or the volume in cubic metres, and the greater of the two is called the revenue ton or freight ton.

CBM stands for cubic metre. One CBM is the volume of a cube one metre on each side. It is calculated from the outside dimensions of the packed piece, pallet included, and not from the dimensions of the product inside: length in metres multiplied by width in metres multiplied by height in metres gives the CBM of each piece, and the pieces are added together to give the consignment.

This is why a pallet of foam and a pallet of steel of identical size cost different amounts to move. The foam pays on its volume, the steel pays on its weight.

FCL is charged per container instead, so the cost of each cubic metre falls as the box fills. Terminal handling, documentation and haulage are charged per container as well, regardless of what is inside it.

Port handling

What happens to the container inside the port

At origin the loaded container is delivered to the terminal before the port cut-off, accepted at the gate against the booking, and stacked in the yard until the vessel loads. At destination it is discharged, moved to the yard, and held there until the transport document is released and the import formalities are complete.

Terminal handling charges, quay rent, demurrage and detention are billed separately from ocean freight by the terminal and the carrier. Demurrage is charged when a container stays inside the terminal beyond the agreed free days. Detention is charged when the container stays outside the terminal, at the consignee premises, beyond the agreed free days.

Free days run from discharge, so the clock on a container starts before anyone has looked at the paperwork.

Documentation

The bill of lading and how the cargo is released

A bill of lading, abbreviated B/L, is the transport document issued by the ocean carrier. It does three things at once: it is a receipt for the cargo as loaded, it is evidence of the contract of carriage, and, when it is issued to order, it is a document of title, so whoever holds the original controls the cargo.

Release follows the form the bill takes. An original bill of lading is printed and couriered, and the consignee surrenders an original at destination to take delivery. A surrender or telex release is a bill the shipper hands back to the carrier at origin, after which the carrier authorises release at destination without paper travelling. A sea waybill is not a document of title and releases to the named consignee on identification alone.

Alongside the bill we prepare and check the commercial invoice, the packing list, the certificate of origin and the cargo manifest that the destination calls for.

Mode comparison

When sea freight is the right mode

Sea freight is the right mode when the volume is large, the cargo is dense or bulky, and the delivery date sits weeks rather than days ahead. It carries what no aircraft can take, from full production lines and transformers to tanks and structural steel, and it carries ordinary commercial volume at the lowest cost for each cubic metre of any mode.

Air freight beats sea when the value or the urgency of the cargo outweighs the freight cost. Land freight beats sea on regional lanes where a truck drives from the loading bay to the consignee with no port at either end. When cargo crosses an ocean and then a border, we combine the two and the container continues inland by road.

Booking

What we need to book ocean space

Send the loading port or pickup address, the discharge port or delivery address, the commodity, the number and type of packages, the gross weight, the outside dimensions of each package, the Incoterm and the date the cargo is ready. With that we check equipment availability, price the container and the cubic metre side by side, and open the booking.