International Shipping FAQ

DIRECT means that the container doesn't change the vessel. For example, DIRECT ocean container service from USA to Australia means that the vessel will sail directly from USA to Australia without stopping at any other countries. Of course, it doesn't mean that the vessel only stops at 1 port in USA and 1 port in Australia. The vessel makes stops at a few ports in USA and a few ports in Australia. This way the vessel operator assures that their ships do not sail empty.

TRANSSHIPMENT ocean container service means that the container actually changes the vessels. In our example with USA-Australia, the container will change the vessels usually somewhere in Asia. This means that the container will first travel to Singapore or China, get offloaded there, and may have to wait for some time until it gets re-loaded onto another vessel bound to Australia.

So the 2 major differences between DIRECT and TRANSHIP ocean container shipping are time and cost. With the Direct service the container gets there faster but it also demands a higher shipping cost. Transshipment service allows a substantial reduction in overseas shipping cost but the delivery time is sacrificed.