A developing economy brings higher demands from people for the transport and delivery of goods to their customers and partners. To meet these demands effectively, using a combination of freight transport methods is essential. Among them, sea freight is an indispensable route, especially for those who frequently transport large, long-distance shipments.

What is Sea Freight?

When we talk about sea freight, we understand it as a popular method of cargo transportation that uses suitable transport means and infrastructure to facilitate the movement of goods across the sea. The primary means used are cargo ships of various tonnage, along with equipment for loading and unloading goods. The infrastructure includes seaports and the facilities built within them dedicated to sea freight operations.

New Trends in Cargo Transportation

Currently, road transport is no longer the primary route that people rely on for moving goods. In parallel, other transportation routes are being developed and invested in to provide the most optimal shipping solutions, ensuring every package is delivered and received safely and efficiently.

For each shipment, the most optimal transport method is selected based on the specific conditions and requirements. Because of this reality, all current transport routes hold their own unique importance, ensuring that every shipment is delivered and received effectively and with the highest satisfaction, regardless of the item’s type, size, or weight.

Road transport is no longer the only choice for cargo owners and transport units; rail, air, and sea routes are also being fully utilized. Depending on the delivery characteristics of each shipment and the owner’s requirements, the best path will be chosen to ensure safety, cost-effectiveness, and transit time.

Over time, the sea has proven to be an excellent transport route, especially for moving large shipments to countries with coastlines. The fact that cargo ships are moving more frequently across the seas, with a significant increase in traffic between regions, has greatly supported and improved global trade.

Why Use Sea Freight?

In which cases should we or must we use sea freight? You can consider the following scenarios:

• When you want to transport goods of enormous volume.
• When you need to ship large quantities of goods internationally in a cost-effective manner.
• When the sending and receiving points are adjacent to the sea and have ports for cargo ships to dock.

(*) Note: Sea freight is only suitable and should only be applied to shipments that are not urgent and have no time pressure.

Advantages of Sea Freight

The sea freight method has many outstanding advantages, including:

• Allows for the simultaneous transport of shipments with enormous volume and size.
• Easily combines with other types of vehicles, equipment, and support tools during the transport process.
• Cost savings compared to other transport methods is an advantage that many people appreciate about sea freight.
• High safety with clear sea traffic routes and fewer vessels, ensuring cargo ships are always safe with rare instances of collisions or accidents.
• Vast and unrestricted mobility: With many countries worldwide having coastlines, shipping routes are not limited, allowing for more flexible movement of cargo ships and easier access to many regions around the globe.

Risks in Sea Freight

Although sea freight is highly regarded for its safety, it cannot be denied that it still carries potential risks that one should be aware of in order to implement preventive solutions and minimize potential losses.

• Risks from natural disasters: Abnormal weather changes at sea such as storms, thunderstorms, rough seas, or tsunamis can all affect cargo ships in transit.
• Risks from accidents during transit: Incidents like ship collisions, running aground in shallow waters, or sinking are very rare, but they are risks that cargo faces during sea transport.
• Risks from human factors: The most common issues are piracy by pirate groups or seizure by the authorities of a country if the cargo is suspected of having problems.

Sea Freight Documentation

Documentation in sea freight is extremely necessary as it proves the legality of the goods, ensuring that the shipment can be circulated safely and without legal complications. A sea freight shipment will typically include:

Transport Documents:

• Bill of Lading for the shipment upon loading: Confirms that the process of loading the goods onto the vessel is complete.
• Loading Order: Instructs the arrangement and movement of goods on the transport vessel.
• Cargo Manifest: Details the type of goods, quantity, and destination of the shipment.
• Mate’s Receipt: Acknowledges that the goods have been loaded onto the vessel.
• Tally Sheet: Controls the quantity of goods during transport.
• Stowage Plan: A diagram showing the position of the goods arranged on the vessel, allowing for the best control over the shipment to avoid loss.

Customs Documents: These are the documents that allow a cargo ship to proceed when reaching a customs area.

• Certificate of Origin.
• Valid Cargo Insurance Policy.
• Packing List, etc.

Why Sea Freight Transit Time is Slow

1. Influence of Nature

Nature here mainly refers to natural disasters and bad weather. Indeed, a prominent characteristic of sea freight is its dependence on the weather. While most transport modes are affected by weather, sea vessels are perhaps the most dependent. The sea is often more “unpredictable” and frequently experiences adverse weather conditions. For example, a year might see 10 storms form in the South China Sea, slowing down vessel transit, while only about 3 or 4 of those storms might make landfall and affect modes like road and air transport.

Additionally, sea freight typically handles much larger capacities, 3, 4, or many times more than other modes. Sea transport is the only method that can carry extremely heavy cargo as well as a large quantity of goods. With such a large load, it is impossible to move quickly; to ensure the safety of people and cargo, vessels must travel at a standard speed.

2. Complexity of Customs Procedures

Customs procedures are always cumbersome and complex. The speed of sea freight also depends on how quickly customs authorities process the paperwork. Sometimes, due to missing or invalid documents, goods can be held for several days.

3. How to Improve the Speed of Sea Freight?

The above are the most basic reasons why sea transport is always slower, sometimes taking from one to several months for international goods. So how can this situation be overcome or improved?

Currently, industry experts are continuously working to improve vessel quality to increase transport speed without affecting cargo capacity. Additionally, one way to speed up the process is to prepare all valid documents and certificates thoroughly so that procedures at customs agencies can proceed smoothly and quickly.

Sea Freight Shipping Company

Plato Logistics is a sea freight company that customers can trust and contact. After many years of operation in the cargo transport sector, Plato Logistics has provided thousands of customers with high-quality, reputable, and cost-effective services, served by an enthusiastic team with many years of experience in the industry, ready to provide excellent support for any issues customers may face.

Currently, Plato Logistics offers a variety of sea freight services, such as:

• Less-than-container (LCL) and Bulk Cargo transport
• Full Container Load (FCL) transport
• Containerized cargo transport
• Domestic and international sea freight.

Sea Freight Rates

To ship a package via sea, cargo owners will need to pay a service fee to the transport company, based on a price frame suitable for the sent shipment. Typically, sea freight rates today depend on factors such as:

• Distance from the origin to the destination
• Type and volume of the goods
• Whether the goods are shipped domestically or internationally
• Special storage conditions for the goods (if any).

The sea freight rate for various types of goods will include the following fees:

• Service fee for the transport unit
• Cargo insurance fee based on the value of the shipment
• Fee for loading and unloading goods onto/from the vessel
• Port storage fee if the goods are not transported in a timely manner
• And some other surcharges as regulated.

What is Sea Freight Combined with Other Modes?

Multimodal transport is the combination of two or more transport modes. Similar to other forms, sea freight can be combined with the remaining modes to create a new transport method with more advantages in specific circumstances.

Sea freight can be combined with modes like road transport, air transport, rail transport, or multiple modes at once.

Why Combine Transport Modes?

The question is, why make such combinations? What are the benefits for the transport process? Is there a difference between combining and not combining these forms?

First, we can combine sea freight with other forms to create a new transport method when wanting to move a large volume of goods to a landlocked country.

Second, combining sea freight with other transport modes helps optimize transit time.

Additionally, such combinations can also help save a considerable amount of cost. Instead of spending heavily on air freight, one can take advantage of the low cost of sea freight, combining it with air transport to save a significant amount.

If your order encounters an issue and production is slower than expected, you should combine other transport modes with sea freight. Relying solely on sea freight would further delay the delivery process.

Sea Freight Combined with Road Transport

This is a combination of sea and road transport. This means you will ship by sea first, then use road transport to deliver the goods to the final destination. Or conversely, you can choose to transport by road first, then by sea.

These two forms can compensate for each other, creating a balance:

• Sea freight: low cost, dependent on nature, slow transit time.
• Road transport: high cost, less dependent on nature, fast transit time.

Thus, with skillful combination, we can create a balance in transport, with an average cost, ensuring on-time delivery.

Sea Freight Combined with Air Freight?

Combining sea with air freight also leverages the strengths of each method to create novelty while helping to save costs.

Sea Freight Services

At Plato Logistics, we provide international sea freight services for import and export goods from seaports around the world to Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Qui Nhon, with various delivery methods such as port-to-port (CY-CY) (CFS-CFS), door-to-port (DOOR–CY) (CY-DOOR), and door-to-door (DOOR-DOOR).

Plato Logistics has good rates with major and reputable international sea freight carriers such as: ONE, CMA, MAERSK, HAPAG-LLOYD, EVERGREEN, MSC, COSCO, PIL… ensuring the provision of reliable services (sea freight insurance), cost-effectiveness (sea freight rates), and meeting all customer needs for international sea transport services.

Our Sea Freight Services

We provide comprehensive international sea freight services for all types of cargo:

• Full Container Load (FCL) sea freight services
• Less-than-Container Load (LCL) sea freight services
• Refrigerated (Reefer) cargo sea freight services
• Bulk cargo sea freight services
• Project cargo sea freight services
• Oversized and overweight cargo sea freight services
• Dangerous goods (IMO) transport services
• Domestic sea transport and container transport services from the ports of Ho Chi Minh – Hai Phong – Da Nang at reasonable costs and on schedule.