Sea freight

We are your experts in sea freight and we use our knowledge and expertise to organise your transport worldwide.  Sea freight is the classic, cheaper way to transport your goods. As a global, agile and still owner-managed logistics company we have an excellent understanding of local market conditions. Our experienced sea freight experts ensure your goods safely reach their destination worldwide.

Your benefits at Röhlig Logistics

• Direct contact with your personal local contact – even for small order volumes
• 60 of our own consolidated containers worldwide per week
• Access to other 2400 LCL services weekly
• Transparent pricing. We provide information about the current price range in the market and its development via the Xeneta Shipping Index.
• Our contracts with all three of the major shipping company alliances allow us to ensure that your shipment stays on schedule – even in peak seasons.

The world of global logistics is complex – customs, freight rates and import regulations vary from country to country. It doesn’t matter whether you send goods on a regular basis or just occasionally: We can answer any questions you may have and handle your transport needs. We are your reliable logistics partner providing you with a first-class service.

All over the world – we are a global and agile team: with more than 2,200 employees in over 150 branches, we work together for the success of our customers in more than 30 countries worldwide. In recent years, we have significantly expanded our presence on the following trading routes:

• Asia – Australia and New Zealand
• Asia – South Africa
• Asia – Europe
• Asia – North America
• Europe – Asia
• Europe – North America

‘Companies of all sizes appoint Röhlig as their sea freight forwarder – with quite different freight volumes and frequencies.’

Sascha Munzert, Global Sea Freight Manager Röhlig Logistics

FCL and LCL – which is which?

Essentially, there are two different options for transporting your freight in a container.

• FCL (full container load) gives you the option of transporting your freight in a container that is provided just for your cargo. This option is good for high freight volumes or for sensitive or valuable loads.

• LCL (less than container load) is like a consolidated container. Your goods share the container’s capacities with other freight. This means you use the precise space you actually need for your freight. We would be happy to help you choose the right option for your delivery.

FCL and LCL – when to use which option

Put simply: FCL suits larger volumes. The container is loaded at the consignor’s premises and unloaded at the recipient’s premises. Depending on the trade, our customers can choose between different services and therefore opt for, for example, the next possible, cheapest or quickest possible shipping.

LCL is economical particularly for smaller shipments. Here, we have the option of combining shipments for different customers and spreading the shipping costs across several customers. The delivery is taken to a warehouse where the container is made seaworthy and stowed, after which the consignment is then shipped. The container is unloaded in the destination port and the individual shipments are transported on to their destination. For certain trades we offer LCL express options.

If a customer has an urgent shipment to be sent from Shanghai to New York, for example, the shipment will be transported by sea to Long Beach, Los Angeles, and from there it will be taken by truck to New York. This significantly reduces transit times compared to pure sea transport. These faster options are also significantly cheaper than shipping the goods by air freight. We offer these services for the Asia – USA trade routes (from 27 ports) and India – USA.

We also ensure reliable sea freight delivery in peak seasons, too

We have contracts with all three major alliances – i.e. the biggest shipping companies combined: ‘Ocean Alliance’, ‘2M’ and ‘THE Alliance’. The advantage this provides is that we can assure you that your goods will arrive, even in peak seasons on the sea.

Golden Week and Chinese New Year lead to high volumes of sea freight – but you can still rely on Röhlig

A typical example: Around Chinese New Year or the Golden Week, ports are either just partially staffed or not staffed at all and production sites shut down. In order to overcome this bottleneck, companies around the world have begun to replenish their stocks in advance. The high volume leads to long waiting times and a serious tailback on the sea. Here at Röhlig, we are prepared for such events and can therefore promise to deliver before and during international peak seasons.

How it works – our procedures are designed for the long term

In order to be able to deliver in peak seasons, we try to plan strategically with our customers. If we have a certain degree of planning reliability, we can block the respective volume on the ship. If a customer sticks to their planned volume over the term of the contract, we can secure space on ships at peak times, too.

This principle also applies to us: reliability comes before profit. The long-term standard of quality we offer our customers is more important than the comparably small monetary benefit we would get as a company from a short-term, price-driven change of shipping company – that is our understanding of solid and trustworthy collaboration.

International trade has changed drastically due to the speed of online trade. The saying ‘ordered today, delivered tomorrow’ demands new process models for all those involved in the value chain. Sea freight has also caught up with the demand for speed. Here, digitalisation provides clear benefits for you: it ensures faster processes and reliable delivery. As an agile company, we rely on the best mix of digital tools and personal advice. Our IT subsidiary Röhlig blue-net develops individual interfaces and web solutions.

Digitalise your logistics chain for sea freight with Gravity

High data volumes in the supply chain require high-performing IT solutions. We facilitate the best data exchange between all parties involved in the value chain. To do so, we work with the cloud-based supply chain management tool Gravity. All processes are mapped company-wide and are cloud-based. All parties involved can enter or request relevant data while processes run automatically and in real time. This is how we link production environments to logistics systems. This has two key advantages: We avoid media disruption and encourage data exchange. Moreover, parties involved in the transport chain that have no direct contractual relationship can access data based on their roles.