Logistics made Simple - Shipping Process

Prior to proceeding further, lets step back and have an overall look at the entire Shipping Process for Sea Shipments and understand the different parties involved, their roles and the stages in the process in which they are involved.

The Players

The four key players amongst various others involved in any sea shipment are – Shipper, Consignee, Freight Forwarder and Shipping Line.

The shipper is the party of shipment at the origin; it can be a factory of a seller who exports.

The consignee is the receiver of the cargo at the destination.

Freight Forwarder is the logistics provider the consignee/shipper would be dealing with for the shipment.

Shipping Line is the company that would be carrying your cargo from the origin to the destination. Most of the communication with this line would be via the freight forwarder.

Shipping Process

The movement of goods from shipper to the consignee is a uniform process which is followed for every shipment. The steps can be broadly divided into 2 halves – Five Physical Steps & Two Documentation Steps. Each step in the logistics process involves a cost, which is borne by either shipper or consignee.

Export Haulage

The process is initiated with the movement of cargo from shippers to the forwarder’s premises. The forwarder’s premises in case of LCL Shipment is a consolidation center.

Export Custom Clearance 

For every shipment leaving a country, customs checks need to meet the regulatory requirements. Custom Clearance involves submitting of documents to the authorities, the clearance can only be done by companies holding valid customs license majorly called as Custom House Broker.

Origin Handling

The last step from the place of origin is Origin Handling, it involves complete physical handling and inspection of cargo from receiving at the origin warehouse till it's loaded on the vessel. Origin Handling contains multiple steps and can be carried out by multiple parties as well, it falls under the responsibility of the freight forwarder.

Ocean Freight

The selection of Shipping Line is made depending upon the requirement of the shipments as well as various other factors. Freight forwarder generally has the contract of carriage with shipping lines for containers.

Import Custom Clearance

Post the cargo arrives at the destination port, an inspection needs to be done to ensure the cargo complies with the regulatory norms of the destination. The process is generally done by the freight forwarder or an agent of freight forwarder.

Destination Handling

When the cargo reaches the destination, it requires to be unloaded from the ship to the shore and further to the forwarder’s warehouse. In the case of LCL shipments, the process can also include the unstuffing of the container.

Import Haulage

The last step of the logistics process is actually delivery of the cargo to the consignee. Import Haulage includes transportation to a particular last mile and is generally done by the freight forwarder or a local transportation company hired by the consignee.

As freight forwarders, we at MGH are constantly involved to provide customers logistical expertise of the top level combined with technological support via our online website – www.myshipment.com to track and trace your cargo at convenience.