Shipping Jargon

In the process of shipping, once a delivery order has been issued for an import full container and the customer has unpacked it, they are...

NVOCC is one of the terms you would have heard quite often in day to day business particularly if you are in the US or Chinese markets..

This article explains in detail who an NVOCC is, how they work and what is their role in the industry..

There are several shipping jargon used in day to day business.. Port and Starboard are two such terms on a daily basis..

But not everyone is aware of the meanings and origins of these terms.. Here is an explanation..

This definition of the term "Merchant" has caught the attention of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) who is soliciting public comment as to

1. How VOCCs apply the term “Merchant” in their bills of lading;
2. Whether the definition, as applied, subjects third parties who are not in contractual privity with the carrier to joint or several liability; and
3. Whether carriers have enforced the definition of merchant against third parties that have not consented to be bound by, or otherwise accept, the terms and conditions of the bill of lading.

I have shared my personal opinion on this.. Have a read and share yours..

This article explains and clarifies the difference between Pre-Carriage, Carriage and On-Carriage and how these come together to provide the full spectrum of services to the customer..

General Rate Increase (GRI) - a term liked by the shipping lines and loathed by the trading community.. This article explains what GRI means to people on either side of the fence and how it affects the trade..

The process of global trade is simple to look at, especially if you look at it from the outside..

• There is a buyer who needs a product ;
• There is a seller who sells this product ;
• They discuss and agree on a price ;
• The buyer pays the agreed price ;
• The seller arranges for the product to be transported to the buyer

End of trade.. Simple, right..?? Many would wish it was so.. While there are several processes and documentary flows involved in trade negotiations, there are even further processes involved in the actual movement of the goods from Point A to Point B.. One such process in the movement of goods that influences product pricing is the process of freight negotiation and freight quotation in which there are several types..

Let us take a deep dive into FAK rates and how it works..

Abandoned cargo could be quite stressful for shipping lines, shippers, port authorities and forwarders alike and is considered to be a big headache for everyone concerned..

When a cargo is abandoned it causes severe financial losses to all parties concerned - seller, buyer, shipping line, freight forwarder, transporters, banks, Government etc etc..

It could also cause a rift in business relationships between a shipping line and their customer - whether it is an importer or a freight forwarder because it could create a blemish in the customer's record with the shipping line..

When is a cargo considered to be Abandoned Cargo..??

The much reported MARPOL Annex VI regulation (a.k.a IMO2020) which was implemented to lower the current global limit for sulphur content of marine fuels from 3.50% to 0.50% came into effect on 1st January 2020.. This reduction in sulphur content is supposed to be achieved by way of

• Using low-sulphur compliant fuel oil;
• Using gas as a fuel as when ignited it leads to negligible sulphur oxide emissions;
• Using methanol as an alternative fuel as being used on some short sea services; or
• Using exhaust gas cleaning systems or “scrubbers”, which “clean” the emissions before they are released into the atmosphere

There is however another part of this regulation which is the "Carriage Ban" which comes into effect from 1st of March 2020..

Bulk and Break bulk are two terms that are being used incorrectly and interchangeably in the course of day to day business..

These terms cannot be used interchangeably because there are distinctive differences between Bulk and Break Bulk in terms of cargo, nature, size, capacity, handling, trade, customers, ports, terminals, equipment, infrastructure.........................................

How do you differentiate between the two..?? This article will help you understand clearly..

A seafarer is never at the front or the back of a ship; they are at the bow or the stern. They are never on the left or right side, but rather port or starboard. They are never in their bedroom or the kitchen, but they might be in their cabin or in the galley. A ship’s speed is not measured in miles or kilometres per hour, but rather in knots. A ship, of course, is referred often as “she” and not always as “it”.

These are the things we might think of when we hear a phrase like “Maritime English”.

• Trans-Pacific carriers accelerate blank sailings
• More blank sailings spell volatility for trans-Pacific
• AE2-blank-sailing-announcement-Europe-Services - Maersk
• Falling US imports spell more trans-Pacific blankings
• Soft demand and falling rates push 2M to blank another Asia-USEC sailing
• Ocean Alliance to Blank Ten Transpacific Sailings as Spot Rates Plummet

These are some of the headlines you might have seen across many media, all with one common factor "blank sailings"..

What is this blank sailing and how does it impact or influence global container shipping..??

There are several entities involved in the successful transportation of a shipment.. However big or small a shipment is, two entities stand out due to the importance of their roles in a shipment..

These entities are a Freight Forwarder and a Clearing Agent..

It is very important to understand the functions of a freight forwarder and a clearing agent and their role in a shipment as this is often confused..

While in a lot of cases, a freight forwarder and clearing agent may be the same entity, there are many cases where they are different as well and in this post we explore the similarities and difference between a freight forwarder and clearing agent..

As container shipping has evolved over the years, so have the methods of carrying cargo and types of cargo being carried.. Open Tops and Flat Racks are two of the container types that are used in the carriage of (OOG) Out of Gauge cargo (also called (ODC) Over Dimensional Cargo in certain countries)..

This type of carriage has its own individuality and one unique feature of this type of carriage are the Lost Slots which occurs in the carriage of this type of cargo and this is explained in detail in this article..

There is a new shipping jargon in town and it is called Street Turn.. It is a charge about to be implemented by a few of the shipping lines..

This has the shippers up in arms with some terming it as insane, appalling and a huge mistake.. Read about it here and join a short poll on what your opinion is about the street turn..

As you maybe aware, the Federal Maritime Commission initiated investigation, Fact Finding 28, in March 2018 to look into the question whether demurrage and detention charges in the shipping industry were justified..

Industry stakeholders raised a petition to address the question whether demurrage and detention fees charged to shippers for storing containers and using equipment beyond the carrier's or terminal's allowed "free time" were just and reasonable..

This question arose on the back of demurrage and detention charges levied by the port, terminal and shipping lines to the shippers especially in the key USA gateways of Los-Angeles/Long Beach on the West Coast and New York-New Jersey on the East Coast..

Here are the results of the investigation and its findings..

In April 2018, more than 100 Member States met at the International Maritime Organisation in London and adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels..

The current global limit for sulphur content of ships’ fuel oil is 3.50% m/m (mass by mass)..

The regulations to reduce sulphur oxide emissions has introduced a new global limit for sulphur content of ships and as from 1st of January 2020 the new global limit on the sulphur content will be 0.50% m/m..

The LSS or Low Sulphur Surcharge is as a consequence of this meeting..

A Currency Swap is a pact between two countries that allows trading in their own currency and payments to import and export trade at pre-determined exchange rates without bringing in a third currency..

In this article we discuss with a latest example how the currency swap works and how it helps trade between the countries in the currency swap agreement..

I can visualise a few raised eyebrows to the question "Will the container industry ever forget FOB"..

Especially since FOB has been and still seems to be an integral part of container shipping industry on many fronts..

It has been an industry standard, part of the furniture, sort of a boilerplate, an established term in the industry..

So what changed and why this question..??

NVOCC and Freight Forwarder are entities that many customers use for the movement of their cargo around the world.. Is there a difference between a NVOCC and freight forwarder..?? Let us explore in this article..