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Ocean freight: Connecting the world on the high seas

Rhenus is your trusted partner for global ocean freight, offering tailored logistics services. With deep expertise in ocean transport, we deliver customised logistics solutions to meet your specific sea freight shipping needs worldwide.

Explore our ocean cargo services

As a renowned ocean freight forwarder, Rhenus offers a wide range of services to ship cargo worldwide on a daily basis. To enhance supply chain efficiency, we guarantee fixed departures and dependable transit times through our ocean freight services.

What we offer

The consolidation of multiple shipments from different customers in one container. This less-than-container load (LCL) option helps you share the transportation costs of your cargo, compared to full-container loads (FCLs).

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Economically, full-container load (FCL) is the recommended means of transportation if the volume from one origin to one destination reaches a sufficient capacity utilisation.

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By combining LCL shipments with the same seller or buyer in one dedicated container (FCL), we reduce your costs while giving you increased overall transparency and control over your supply chain.

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Your benefits

Ocean freight saves you money as it is the most cost-effective transport option. Moreover, we adapt precisely to your specific logistics needs.

Reduce your environmental impact by choosing sea freight shipping as a highly sustainable transport option.

Benefit from fixed departures and reliable transit times by sea freight, as well as optimized and stable supply chains and reliable availability.

We take care of the complete coordination of your sea freight shipping, including pre- and on-carriage and ensure that all applicable regulations are always complied with.

We take over the complete coordination of your shipments, including pre- and on-carriage and ensure that all applicable regulations are always complied with.

Why choose Rhenus for ocean cargo services

  • Door-to-door transport across all continents: Leverage our strong network to support you around the globe and benefit from our gateway services, which are globally oriented yet locally focused.
  • Reliability: We maintain strong relationships with all major shipping companies to ensure reliable transport of your goods.
  • Flexibility: Tap into our spectrum of expertise to find the right and customised solutions for your industry requirements.
  • Enhanced security: Benefit from our real-time shipment tracking during the entire logistics process for security monitoring.
  • Digital efficiency: Experience our paperless booking system and digital platforms to help you enhance transparency and control.

Value-added services for sea freight shipping

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Ocean freight handling

We take care of all your handling requirements when it comes to handling ocean freight, be it intelligent storage, repackaging, neutralisation, sorting, intelligent monitoring, labelling, checking shipments or palletising.

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Document solutions for ocean freight logistics

Benefit from our proof of delivery and invoices on paper instead of sending them electronically. These are some of the most important documents in the logistics process, confirming that your shipment has been properly delivered. Courier services can also provide fast and reliable delivery of confidential documents to various countries. If you need digital data to make sea freight shipping as efficient as possible, we offer customised reporting for managing your data.

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Customs clearance

With Rhenus, your ocean freight shipments get through customs smoothly. We always comply with the latest customs regulations - whether you want to import or export goods. Customs clearance is facilitated either by our or in collaboration with trusted partners so you can rest assured that your shipments are in good hands.

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Marine cargo insurance

Our customised insurance options protect the value of your freight. We protect your cargo against all risks of physical loss or damage during transportation by land, sea or air. This allows you to effectively manage the financial consequences of damage. As an experienced ocean freight forwarder, we know that not all transportation routes are equally safe and not all goods are equally sensitive to damage. With our insurance services, you are always on the safe side.

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E-solutions for your ocean freight

We seamlessly integrate your IT systems with our own to automate the exchange of important business data such as shipping orders or status codes, ensuring that you can rely on efficient processes. Our solution enables structured data to be transferred directly between computers according to an agreed standard, without manual intervention. This leads to improved data quality, fewer errors and faster processing of your transactions.

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Are you looking for a reliable and well-connected ocean freight forwarder?

Reach out to our experts who will be happy to offer you extensive guidance and support.

Frequently asked questions

Ocean freight logistics involves the transportation of goods by sea, i.e. by ship. It is used for various types of goods, from raw materials such as coal and oil to finished products such as cars and electronics. Companies often use sea freight shipping for large quantities of goods over long distances as it is usually more cost-effective compared to other means of transportation such as airfreight or land transport, especially for long distances.

In general, air freight is more expensive than sea freight shipping, mainly due to the higher cost of operating planes compared to ships, as well as the limited capacity of planes compared to cargo ships. Air freight is often used for urgent shipments or for goods that require fast delivery, while ocean freight is often used for larger quantities of goods over longer distances as it is generally more cost-effective.

You can choose between full charter services and general cargo shipments. We can handle any type of cargo, from containers to bulk and general cargo, from dangerous or liquid goods to heavy and oversized project cargo. For deep sea transportation, we use our long-standing relationships with reputable sea shipping companies to charter vessels and ensure that your goods arrive at their destination on time, anywhere in the world. For smaller deep sea shipments, we consolidate your freight on one ship and transport it to your chosen destination. Ocean freight consolidation leads to cost savings for you.

With our consolidation services, you as the buyer can group your LCL shipments together with other orders from different suppliers to save costs. Your individual shipments are consolidated in one center and sent in a common container as an FCL shipment, which is then delivered to the destination. If you are acting as a seller, we can load your various shipments from the same point of origin into an FCL container and send them directly to the port of destination. There, the consignments are unloaded and distributed to the appropriate recipients. This saves you time and effort and, at the same time, you benefit from greater transparency and control over your logistics chain.