Importance of Packaging While Shipping Products Through Sea

Shipping products through the sea has always been a critical interest for all the traders who have been willing to sell or purchase products globally. Shipping products through seas is more time consuming than other cargo methods. Yet it is the best and the most traditional way to carry bulky goods and even lightweight from one place to another, especially to areas where there are no airstrips. Also, there are now many cargo planes, but they can't match the level, the amount of bulk that ships can carry compared to them.

Different Types Of Sea Transportation Methods

Containers, bulk carriers, and tankers ships are today's most important means of transportation. They carry billions of tones of goods each year through their designated routes. Ships are increasing in size and quantity due to their widespread demand and growth in world trade. Cargo ships travel almost in all directions, be it north, south, east, or west. They carry goods like rice, meat, oranges, as well as raw materials like coal, iron ore, and oil. They also move industrial materials like all utility vehicles, even most of the televisions and computers too.

Carrying almost everything from one place to the other export packing is a vital part of exporting or importing goods. Export packaging is not as easy as it sounds; it's a dangerous thing that requires excellent knowledge of how products are transported, and it needs many experts to handle such goods, people with an understanding of what dangers are present to protect them. When the goods are internationally transported, they are treated multiple times and in different hands, which makes it even riskier. The last thing you would want is your shipment to arrive but is in poor condition, damaged and being left in a state where you can't even claim the insurance because of the improper packaging.

Importance Of Proper Packaging 

Proper packaging is essential; it is for the security and safety of the goods. They save your time later where you don't have to spend time on claiming losses, damages, and insurances. It's imperative to consider the type of cargo that you're shipping and also its transit. For example, if you are shipping FCL or an LTL domestically, both require different cares and protection. Experts from TheB2BCrowd state that an FCL requires minimal attention as there are fewer handling points, and there's minimal pick-up and drop off. But, LTL is handled by multiple hands-on different occasions, as well as the number of times the cargo will be loaded plus unloaded from the truck, which must be considered.

The packaging alone is a long process that includes not only the quality insurance but also labeling and padding. Freight forwards, workers at the docks, ports aren't aware of the commodity they are handling when unloading or loading. If the cargo needs to be handled carefully and is not something that can be handled like common goods, then it has to be labeled with precautions. That may include labelings like 'with care,' 'fragile,' 'do not double stack' and also temperatures warning should be marked to ensure their safety. The main concerns should be mentioned where it's easily visible to see.

General Packaging Problems

Overhanging of the cargo and misaligned boxes are also some of the general problems that are faced during packaging. It may cause the boxes to fall and goods to get damaged, especially when a forklift is lifting them. Also, many of the boxes collapse while pilled over one another or are handled by two or more cranes. If you are sending something that needs extra attention, it's always advisable to contact companies that offer professional packaging services to avoid claims and damages; it is not about saving the pallets. It is about making sure that the freight arrives safely. Spending $15 on pallets for material worth hundreds of dollars is not a wise decision. You should always focus on the safety of your goods.

Bottom Line 

When goods are transported internationally, their journey should be kept in mind, the ship and its equipment, types of screws and bolts, special machinery, and facilities should be kept in mind. The kind of commodity is a general concern. Anyone spending worth millions of dollars on international trading should also be focused on their packaging as packaging is the only safety that can either let them trade fairly or bring many interruptions in between. I would personally recommend spending little more than it takes to ensure the safety of the packages as sea routes are really unpredictable and often interrupted by nature itself. Many traders are lucky even to recover drown materials when ships collapse in between their journey because of many accidents that are possible to occur in a mid-sea trip thanks to their extensive precautions of packagings.