Sea freight Infocenter

Here you will find an overview of the most popular shipping containers and reefers, incl. dimensions, volumes and maximum load (standard values). Unlike air freight containers, shipping containers may be loaded by the clients themselves.

The dimensions, fittings and stackability of shipping containers are standardised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and specified in the ISO Standard 668. The containers are generally 20 or 40 foot in length.

Shipping containers can be transported over land and water without any problems, since they are easy to fit to trains and HGVs. This eliminates the need to transfer individual consignments at the port or railway station.

Containers are assigned a special identifier to ensure ease of international identification. The first four capital letters indicate the owner, followed by a six-digit check number.

There are exact regulations concerning dangerous goods which must be followed for sea freight transport. Did you actually know that common PR gifts, like filled gas lighters, matches, glues etc., can be dangerous goods? Moreover, there are often dangerous devices in the finished appliance - e.g. devices with batteries, gas cartridges etc.

If you are not the manufacturer yourself you should be well-informed about your goods. Since in the event of an accident (due to undeclared or falsely declared dangerous goods) the sender or the client is exclusively liable for the consequent damage.

When cooperating with foreign companies you might find measurements which are not common. The following table should help you to calculate these "exotic" values into the units commonly used.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has made an amendment to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS): it requires that every packed container be assigned a verified gross weight.
 
As of July 1st, 2016 it is the shippers responsibility to determine the container weight and to submit the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) to the ocean carriers, before loading the container onto a vessel for export. Without submitting the VGM, the container will be rejected from the port authorities and will not be loaded onto the vessel.
 
There are two accepted methods of calculating the verified gross mass of a container; which is weighing the stuffed container (Option 1) or weighing all cargo, adding dunnage and the tare weight of the container, which can be found at the door of the container (Option 2).  
 
For all FCL containers the Consignor is obliged to submit the VGM declaration to us by filling in the VGM declaration sheet (see attachment). As some ports do have a “no VGM, no gate-in” policy, the document needs to be submitted to your respective contact person at Röhlig latest at time of packing the container, prior to leaving the premise. To ensure an immediate processing, the declaration should be send via e-mail. A hard copy of the declaration is to be handed over to the driver of the trucking company in addition.
 
For your further reference, kindly see below timeframe for the VGM procedure for FCL container, in cases when you are able to verify the cargo weight yourself (you have a scale on site).