About Shipping domain

for beginners
Prepared by: Shanthakumar.S (Business Analyst)
 So what is shipping ???
• To explain in a lament language shipping is just transporting any
material from one place to another.
• Materials may denote either a raw material or a product.
• The shipping can be done through roadways, railways, airways
and seaways.

Roadways Railways Airways Seaways

 How the cargoes are shipped to another country via sea

• The cargo is nothing but a product or raw material.

Cargo - It may be either;
-> Raw material: , , , ,
Cotton , etc.
Cereals
Iron ore Coal Oil

-> Product/Finished goods:

Automobiles Clothes Servers

• The Sender/Exporter/Shipper packs the cargoes inside the wooden pallet

before shipping it to the receiver/importer for safety purpose.

• The wooden pallet is then stored/stuffed inside the container in the place
• called Container Freight Station (CFS).
• The container is then moved to the port terminal where the ships
are docked.

• In the port terminal, the container is loaded on the ship.

• The ship is then moved to the destination port (Port B) from the
source port (Port A).
• The containers are then unloaded from the ships in the port terminal.

• From the port terminal the containers are taken to the Container
Freight Station (CFS) where the cargoes are taken out/de-stuffed
from the container.

• The cargoes are then accepted/received by the customer/importer in

the Container Freight Station (CFS).
 So what are those terms cargoes, containers and
vessels coming frequently in the shipping process

• Let us see what is a cargo first……

• Cargo is anything but the raw materials and finished
goods/products which are need to be transported on the
ship/aircraft/road vehicles/railways from one place to
another.
• So cargo is of many types which are as follows;
– Dry Bulk cargo
The term dry bulk means the cargoes which are carried in the
vessels/ships in loose form.

Iron ore Coal Grain

– Break bulk cargo
It is the type of cargo which is similar to the Dry bulk cargo but
rather it will be carried in the package like wooden pallet and
bundled instead of in the loose form.
Steel bar
Drummed Bagged and Steel
cargo cement coiled for
shipment

– Liquid bulk cargo

It is the cargo which is in the form of liquid.
Eg: Petrol, Oil, etc.
– Gas cargo
It is the cargo which is in the form of gas.
– Dangerous cargoes
It is hazardous in nature which should be handled with utmost care.
Eg: Flammable solid, explosives, corrosive chemicals, etc.
• We have seen about the cargoes…now let us see what
is a vessel and its types.
• Vessel is also known as ship which is used to carry the
cargoes via ocean.
• The vessel is of many types which are as follows;
– Container vessel
It is currently the common mode of transport which is used to
transport the containers via ocean.

– Bulk vessel
From the name itself we can tell that it is the vessel which shall be
used to carry the bulk cargoes.
– Break bulk vessels
It is used for the transporting the bagged cargoes (eg: Cement,
etc), palletized cargoes (paint, chemicals, etc), timbers, etc.

– Tanker vessels
It is used to transport the liquid bulk cargoes like oil, petroleum,
chemicals, etc.

Ro-Ro vessels
It is used to transport the wheeled cargoes like car, trucks, etc.
• That’s all about the vessel.
• So what is a container then?....Container is the rigid
body which is made of steel and aluminum. Of course
the container is used to store the cargoes for the
shipment since the container offers a secured
environment to the cargoes.
• The container comes in different categories namely;
– 20 feet container
– 40 feet container
• The container is of many types which are as follows;
– General purpose container
The name itself tells the meaning that is the normal type container
used to store all the general types of cargoes.

– Open top container

It is used to store the cargoes which cannot be easily loaded
through the doors and need to be loaded from the top.

– Flat rack container

It is the container which is used to store the cargo with over length
and over width.
– Flat rack container
It is used to store the cargoes with overwidth and/or over high.

– Tank container
It is the special type of container mainly used to store the liquid
cargoes.

– Reefer container
It is the container which has inbuilt refrigerator and is used to store
the temperature sensitive cargoes.
Manufacturing of containers
Markings on the container door
Who are all the people involved in
shipping?
The following people are involved mostly in the shipping
process;
1.Shipping line
2.Exporter
3.Importer
4.Container manufacturer
5.Container leaser
6.Customs officials
7.Freight forwarders
8.Customs House Agent
1. Shipping line

• Shipping line is an entity which owns ships and containers to

transport the cargoes from one place to another place via sea.
• Example: CMA CGM, Maersk, Hanjin, etc.
2. Exporter

• Exporter is the person who sends the cargoes to his customer

who is in another country.
• Exporter can also be called as sender, consigner, and
manufacturer.
• The exporter either exports raw materials or products.
3. Importer
• Importer is the person who is in another country and receives the
cargoes sent by the exporter.
• Importer can also be called as receiver, consignee, and
consumer.
4. Container manufacturer
About container:
• First let us know what is a container? Container is a rigid body
made of steel to store the cargoes.
• The containers is of many types namely;

Dry container Reefer container

Tare weight: 2150 Kg (20’) Tare weight: 2930 (20’) Flat rack Open top
3700 Kg (40’) 4000 (40’) container container
CBM: 27 to 33 (20’) CBM: 27 to 33 (20’)
56 to 63 (40’) 56 to 63 (40’)

Tank container Open side Double door Car carrier

container container container
About container manufacturer
• Container manufacturer is an entity which focuses on
manufacturing the containers for its customers.

5. Container leaser
• Container leaser is the person who leases the containers to any
customers but not limited only to shipping line.

6. Customs officials
• Customs officials are the government personnel who approve the
exporting and importing of the cargoes to/from different countries.
7. Freight forwarders
• Freight forwarder is the agent/broker who assists the exporter
and importer in their exporting and importing process
respectively.
8. Customs House Agent (CHA)
• Customs house agent is the agent who has the license to clear
the exporting and importing customs documentations of the
exporter and importer respectively with the customs officials.
• CHA has the direct contact with the customs officials.
• CHA is approached by the exporter and importer to reduce their
burden and time consumption in the customs clearing process for
their exports and imports respectively.
 Shipping facilities
1. Depot
2. Container freight station
3. Inland container depot
4. Port
 Depot
• Depot is the place where the
containers are stored.
• The depot consists of the Gate
way through which the containers
can be taken-in/out of the depot
and the large open vacant place
where the containers can be
stored.
• The shipping lines used to store
their containers in the depot
before export and after import
process.
• In depot, the containers can also
be repaired incase it has faced
any damage during the shipping
process.
 Container Freight Station (CFS)
• CFS is the warehouse
facility where the containers
are stuffed/de-stuffed with
the cargoes.
• It shall be usually located
near the port.
• The customs officials will
present in the CFS to
perform their inspection and
verification process of the
cargoes.
 Inland Container Depot (ICD)
• ICD is the warehouse facility
similar to the CFS but it is not
built near the port, rather it is
built in the hinterland mainly
for the hinterland exporters.
• Here the containers are
stuffed with the cargoes and
are inspected and verified by
the central excise personnel
and not by the customs
officials.
• The containers are
transported to the port
through trains for exporting
the cargoes.
 Port
• The port is the international trade junction where the interchange
of the goods take place through the process of export and import.
• The port consists of many terminals called port terminals which
are owned by the private players.
• We have understood about the meaning of port. Then what was
the term harbor that I studied once in my school days?
• So Harbor and port are same in meaning except that the harbor
is already the existing land form which created by nature and the
port is built artificially or we can also call it as man-made.
The below diagram depicts the pictorial representation of the port;
 Port terminal
• Again port terminal comprises of many functional sections as below;
- Container yard:
It is the port facility where the containers are stored post the acceptance for
the export and import.
- Quay/Wharf:
Quay: It is the place in the port terminal where the container loading and
unloading of containers on the carriers happen. The loading and
unloading of containers on the carriers is done by shiptainers and
container gantries.
Quay is used for loading and unloading the containers from only big
ships/carriers.
Wharf: It is similar to the Quay but loading and unloading of containers
are done on small ships/carriers.
- Berth:
Berth is the place where the ships can be safely docked alongside the Quay
for loading/unloading the containers from the port terminal.
The below diagram depicts the pictorial representation of the port terminal;

Berth 1

Gateway Port terminal

Container yard
Berth
2
Terminal 1

Container yard
Berth 3

Gateway

G
Quay
Berth
1 a
t Port
Terminal 4 e gate
w
a way
Berth y
2

Gateway Gateway
Berth 1 Berth 2
Berth 4

Berth 1

Terminal 3 Terminal 2
Berth
Sea shore
2

Berth 1 Berth 1 Berth 2

 Hurray !!!
Have learnt
basics about
the shipping
terminologies
That’s it guys……
Any queries ????