Sea transportation is a way to transport goods between ports of different countries and regions by using ships through sea lanes, and it is the main mode of transportation in international trade.
More than 2/3 of the total volume of international trade and 90% of the total volume of China's import and export freight are transported by sea: there are two main ways of sea transport, namely liner transport and chartered ship transport.
Marine transportation is carried out with the help of natural waterways, which are not restricted by roads and tracks and have a stronger capacity to pass. With the changes in political, economic, and trade environment as well as natural conditions, the route can be adjusted and changed at any time to complete the transport task.
With the development of the international shipping industry, modern shipbuilding technology is becoming more and more exquisite, and ships are getting larger and larger. Supergiant oil tankers have reached more than 600,000 tons, and the carrying capacity of fifth-generation container ships has exceeded 5,000 TEU.
The operation mode of sea transportation mainly includes liner transportation and chartered transportation. Liner transportation is also called scheduled ship transportation, and chartered ship transportation is also called unscheduled ship transportation.
1. Liner shipping
Liner transportation refers to a mode of transportation in which the ship makes regular and repeated voyages on specific routes and between established ports according to the pre-defined schedule to engage in the cargo transportation business and collect freight according to the pre-published rate table. Its service objects are non-specific and scattered among many cargo owners, and the liner company has the nature of a common carrier.
2. Chartered ship transportation
Chartering refers to a way in which charterers lease ships from shipowners for cargo transportation, which is usually applied to bulk cargo transportation. The relevant routes and ports, the type of goods to be transported, and the time of sailing are confirmed by the shipowner according to the requirements of the charterer. The rights and obligations between the charterer and the lessor are determined by the charter contract signed by both parties.
Marine transportation has the following characteristics.
1. Ocean cargo transportation is the main mode of international trade transportation
Although international marine cargo transportation has a shortage of lower speed and higher risk, it has become the main mode of transportation in international trade due to its strengths such as large passing capacity, large volume, low freight cost, and strong adaptability to cargo, plus the unique global geographical conditions.
Of China's total import and export cargo transportation 80%-90% is carried out by sea transport. Due to the rise and development of container transportation, not only makes cargo transportation to the collection, and rationalization direction, and saves the cargo packaging materials and miscellaneous transport costs, reduce the loss of goods, ensures the quality of transport, and shortens the transport time, thus reducing the cost of transport.
2. Marine cargo transportation is one of the important channels for the country to save foreign exchange payments and increase foreign exchange income
In China freight expenses generally account for about 10% of the total import and export of foreign trade, especially the freight costs of bulk goods accounted for a greater proportion of trade, if the full use of international trade terms, and striving to send more ships, not only to save foreign exchange payments but also to fight for more foreign exchange earnings. Especially put China's shipping capacity into the international shipping market, and actively carry out the transportation of third countries to create foreign exchange income for the country.
At present, all countries in the world, especially coastal developing countries, attach great importance to the establishment of their ocean-going fleets, focusing on the development of marine cargo transportation. In some shipping-developed countries, foreign exchange freight income has become an important pillar of the national economy of these countries.
