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transport
101
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A
brief
primer
on
ocean
shipping...
There
are
many
kinds
of
ocean
shipping,
from
giant
oil
tankers
to
passenger
cruise
lines
to
ships
available
on
charter.
The focus
of
this
information
is on
the
regularly
scheduled
freighter
routes
offered
by
liner
carriers,
as
well
as
an
important
sub-group
known
as
non-vessel-operating
common
carriers
(NVOCCs).
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| Liner
Shipping |
| Liner
shipping
companies
carry
the
freight
of
hundreds
of
exporters
and
importers
on
any
one
vessel.
They
also
follow
a
regular
schedule
and
specific
routes
that
are
repeated
over
and
over.
For
example,
a
liner
shipping
company
might
follow
a
route
that
makes
calls
at
New
York,
Norfolk,
Charleston,
Rotterdam,
Bremerhaven,
Felixstowe
and
Le
Havre.
If
one
round
trip
takes
four
weeks,
a
steamship
could
put
four
ships
on
the
route
and
call
each
port
once
a
week.
Most
liner
carriers
make
weekly
calls
at
each
port,
although
the
schedules
vary
considerably.
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Shipping
containers
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Liner
shipping
companies
move
most
of
their
freight
in
intermodal
containers.
These
look
like
truck
trailers,
but
the
design
allows
them
to
be
moved
directly
between
trucks,
trains,
and
ocean-going
ships.
The
most
common
dimension
for
a
container
today
is
40
feet
long,
eight
feet
wide
and
eight
feet
six
inches
tall.
A
typical
containership
can
carry
from
1,000
to
3,000
containers.
However,
some
ships
are
designed
to
carry
other
kinds
of
freight.
There
are
the
roll-on/roll-off
ships
that
move
cars,
trucks
and
other
kinds
of
wheeled
equipment,
so-called
breakbulk
ships
that
carry
goods
like
long
steel
pipes,
lumber,
or
large
rolls
of
paper
The
key
is
that
these
ships
follow
a
schedule.
With
more
than
100
shipping
lines
offering
scheduled
services
between
the
U.S.
and
the
rest
of
the
world,
exporters
and
importers
need
access
to
our
comparative
shipping
schedules
to
understand
their
available
options
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NVOCCs
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Many
exporters
ship
less
than
a
full
container
load
to
buyers
overseas.
These
exporters
often
use
non-vessel-operating
common
carriers,
or
NVOCCs,
to
move
their
cargo.
NVOCCs,
sometimes
referred
to
as
consolidators,
specialize
in
combining
several
small
shipments
into
a
single
container
load.
NVOCCs
can
then
place
containers
on
the
ships
of
liner
carriers.
Even
though
NVOCCs
use
the
ships
of
other
carriers,
they
are
still
legally
responsible
for
a
shipment,
just
like
a
vessel-operating
carrier.
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| ©
Vimac
Transport
Ltd.
2002 |
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