Seafreight
Freedom Logistics are your partner for reliable and secure sea freight services, where you control the freight under shipping terms. We will organise everything to meet your requirements, Full container loads (FCL) and less than container loads (LCL). We will manage and arrange all the processes required, door-to-door. This may be loading full containers at one factory or consolidating into one economical shipment cartons and pallets at another, perhaps from multiple suppliers.
Our sea freight services include arranging issue of transport documentation, sets of original bills of loading, express bills, telex release as well as tracking the documents and release to avoid delays on arrival. Never again will you have the pang of anxiety as the notice of arrival hits your desk. Our clients avoid demurrage and rent charges.
At both ends of your shipment Freedom Logistics arrange completion of Customs clearance procedures in the UK and overseas. The accurate and timely submission of documents ensure compliance, correct rates of Duty applied and minimise any custom processing delays.
Freedom Logistics provide progress & tracking information to you when you need it, so you don't have to track shipments yourself. All shipping information is delivered quickly and reliably, as with the actual physical freight movement.
Freedom Logistics have local and overseas partner offices will liaise with your customer or supplier under our careful guidance and keep you informed along the way as shipment progresses.
Our competitive scheduled sea freight service capabilities include containerised freight, FCL, LCL, Ro/Ro and Lo/Lo conventional freight:
Freedom Logistics arrange Full Container Load (FCL), -20', 40', 40HC 45HC containers. The most economical and secure method of shipping large or bulky orders. A dedicated container is placed at the loading point at a date and time agreed by all parties. The shipper loads and stows it safely and the container is then sealed. Unless opened by Customs for Inspection it will normally remain closed until it reaches the delivery point. The sailing schedule will also be agreed at the time of booking to load and all the arrangements for handling, loading and Customs. At origin and destination will be taken care of by Freedom Logistics. We will even arrange delivery to suit you. If required you just need to present us with an Original Bill of Lading.
Less than Container Load (LCL) is more suited to smaller consignments. Depending on the freight rates there is normally a breakpoint, at say below a consignment cube of 15 - 20m3, where it is more economical to ship LCL. This is a consolidation service where your freight is loaded into a Container with other shipper's freight, so your merchandise is still protected from the elements during transit. Most major ports have scheduled departures weekly. The service operates depot to depot, and there will be a close out day for receiving the freight at the depot a few days before the scheduled sailing date.
Please contact us now to discuss your specific requirements.
On arrival at destination the container is moved from the Port to the receiving depot, usually close by, where Customs clearance is arranged for each individual consignment. However, only when the whole container has been emptied (de-vanned) will Customs Clearance be completed. The whole process is managed by Freedom Logistics, you just have to provide copy documents to us to set up the Customs entry and if required present us with an Original Bill of Lading.
45HQ containers and refrigerated containers and other special requirements can be catered for. For complete peace of mind leave all your container sea freight shipping arrangements to Freedom Logistics UK.
New or just need to know more about Seafreight shipping?
If you are new to shipping or have had the job thrust upon you, the links here will give you a good overview of what container shipping is and how it works. For further information and if you need help or assistance about shipping your merchandise, or to request a free quote, please give call us now on 0870 4900569 or complete an Hyperlink to online request rate form and we will contact you as soon as possible.
What is Sea Freight
What is Sea Freight, also known as Ocean Freight and Liner shipping?
Sea Freight is the service of transporting goods by means of high-capacity, ocean-going ships that transit regular routes on fixed schedules. Today there are approximately 400 liner services in operation worldwide, most sailing weekly. Liner vessels, primarily in the form of containerships and roll-on/roll-off ships, carry about 60 percent of the goods by value moved internationally by sea each year.
Let Freedom Logistics UK operating as your Freight Forwarder exploit their sea freight industry expertise to your advantage. Whatever your shipping requirement is, Freedom Logistics UK has the best solution for you. We have provided sea freight services FCL, LCL, Lo/Lo, Ro/Ro for all kinds of goods, from something as large as a concrete crusher to a single pallet of filters, to Australia, from Mexico, from China to Greece, thousands of times our Customers testify their satisfaction with our reliable services.
Bill of Lading
Bills of lading can give the holder access to the goods, or the value they represent, so treat them with respect. Issuing bills of lading with incorrect details in order to comply with letters of credit can be considered a fraud and may attract criminal penalties in severe cases. At best it may deprive your company of being able to rely on contractual limitations and its insurance protection. Where Original Bills have been issued you must surrender an original to obtain release of the shipment unless Telex release has been arranged. Alternatively Express Bills may be issued. Please contact us for more specific advice.
Container Shipping Explained
Containerised freight has revolutionised world trade over the last 50 years by making it possible to ship all manner of commodities quickly and safely in the same transport unit from door to door across the world and on any scale.
Spending our lives dealing with the Container Shipping Lines, Freedom Logistics really know the industry inside out and have indeed grown up with it. Container shipping is different from conventional shipping because it uses 'containers' of various standard sizes - 20 foot (6.09 m), 40 foot (12.18 m) , 45 foot (13.7 m), 48 foot (14.6 m), and 53 foot (16.15 m) - to load, transport, and unload goods. As a result, containers can be moved seamlessly between ships, trucks and trains. The two most important, and most commonly used sizes today, are the 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot container, referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) became the industry standard reference so now cargo volume and vessel capacity are commonly measured in TEU. The 40-foot length container - literally 2 TEU - is the most frequently used container today.
There are in excess of 28 million TEU in the world container fleet and among the busiest container ports 6 of the top ten are in China, with over 125m movements a year. Shanghai dominates the top of the list with 29m in 2010, followed by Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
The transhipment hub ports of Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam provide a vital role in the handling of containerised freight for Europe and the Middle East while around 9% of total container traffic is to and from the USA with their major ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on the West Coast and East Coast centred on New York/New Jersey. The container ships have grown bigger too and recent developments driven by the desire for sustainability have produced much larger ships moving slower for optimum fuel consumption. The largest can now carry 15,000 TEU.
Ro/Ro - Roll on / Roll Off
Suitable for moving the large machinery of the off highway industry consisting of Road Building & Construction Equipment, Agricultural Equipment, Boats, Buses and Tractor Cabs as examples have had an increasing need for international ocean transport. The Ro-Ro ships are Decks and ramps are engineered with strength to handle heavy-duty vehicles and enable these units to roll on and roll off under their own power or be towed on trailers.
Lo/Lo - Load on / Load Off
Conventional Cargo Ships, where the cargo is loaded and discharged over the top of the vessel using cranes or derricks. Vessels can transport a range of different products as a result of their flexible cargo space and onboard cranes. Lift-on/Lift-off (lo/lo) cargo is NON-containerized cargo that must be lifted on and off vessels and other vehicles using handling equipment.
Freedom Logistics manage all the elements of the shipping process for you, giving you total Freedom to concentrate on your other areas of responsibility.
Useful Links - Container Shipping
Whoever you are and whatever your experience to date, whether you are new to shipping, have had the responsibility thrust upon you, or have worked your way through for years, the links here will give you a really good overview of what container shipping today involves and how it works.
The Box That Changed Britain. The extraordinary story of how a simple invention - the shipping container - changed the world forever and forced Britain into the modern era of globalisation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scpzn
That's quite a load! Watch as the container ship Hanjin Washington finishes its journey across the Atlantic Ocean: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/extreme-engineering-container-ships-hanjin-washington.html
Moving containers off the ship and inland, see if the railroad crew has what it takes to meet a tight deadline: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/extreme-engineering-container-ships-loading-trains.html
Useful link: http://www.worldshipping.org/about-the-industry/glossary-of-industry-terms
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