Ocean freight

Ocean freight offers several advantages over other transportation modes:

• Cost-effectiveness: An ocean shipment moves vast quantities of goods, significantly reducing per-unit shipping costs for large shipments

• Eco-friendly: Ocean freight has a smaller carbon footprint per unit of cargo transported than air freight, making it a more sustainable choice

• Versatility: From perishable goods to hazardous materials and oversized items, ocean freight accommodates a wide variety of cargo types

• Scalability: Regardless of business scale—from small companies to large corporations—ocean freight transports massive volumes of goods effectively

Several variables influence the cost of an ocean shipment:

• Distance: Costs increase with the distance between the origin and destination

• Volume and weight: Freight rates depend on container size or the weight of the shipment

• Type of goods: Shipping special cargo—such as hazardous materials or refrigerated items—may require additional costs due to special handling and equipment requirements

• Supply and demand: The balance of available shipping space and freight being shipped affects freight rates

Ocean freight visibility is the ability to monitor and track shipments throughout their journey in the global supply chain. It relies on supply chain data and forms part of overall supply chain visibility.

Ocean freight tracking delivers real-time updates on location, status and estimated arrival time. That visibility empowers businesses to manage inventory and customer expectations effectively. It gives shippers a clearer picture of where shipments are when they face delays and other common challenges.

Top challenges of ocean freight tracking

A lack of visibility creates significant challenges, including:

• Frequent exceptions and other disruptions

• Fees, surcharges and other additional expenses

• Inability to access shipping capacity

• Payment delays

• Wasted resources

• Inefficient operations

• Poor communication within the supply chain

• Reduced customer satisfaction and retention

Benefits of improved ocean freight visibility

Better visibility helps manage these challenges and delivers benefits like these:

• Enhanced planning and decision-making: Real-time data on shipment status and location supports strategic decisions around inventory management, product allocation and contingency planning

• Improved customer service: Accurate and timely updates on shipment status and expected delivery times improve customer satisfaction and build trust

• Reduced costs: Real-time tracking helps identify bottlenecks and delays, enabling timely corrective action to minimize detention charge risk and avoid unnecessary fees

• Increased efficiency: Streamlined scheduling and logistics processes optimize supply chain operations and reduce unnecessary inventory

• Risk mitigation: Monitoring cargo condition and location throughout the journey helps identify potential risks early—particularly for sensitive or high-value goods

• Improved supplier and carrier management: Clarity on carrier and supplier performance improves relationships, negotiations and service reliability

• Sustainability: Identifying areas to reduce carbon emissions and waste makes operations more sustainable and helps meet the environmental expectations of customers and regulatory bodies

Freight forwarding plays a critical role in improving ocean visibility and tracking, significantly enhancing the efficiency and reliability of international logistics operations.

What is ocean freight forwarding?

• Manage relationships with multiple carriers and consolidate disparate information into one comprehensive system

• Leverage advanced technology to provide real-time tracking of shipments

• Coordinate all logistical details of a shipment, from customs documentation to warehousing and final delivery

• Help businesses navigate complex customs processes and manage necessary documentation

• Offer insurance services and risk management advice to help businesses protect cargo from loss or damage

• Integrate services with logistics platforms, giving businesses a centralized hub to manage, track and optimize freight shipments

Advanced visibility platforms provide the capabilities shippers need to track and manage ocean freight at scale:

• Multimodal visibility with detailed cargo data at vessel, container, order and item levels for strategic planning

• Structured and standardized data collected from fragmented supply chain networks

• Centralized visibility across ocean, air, rail, drayage and trucking modes in a single platform

• Integration with existing logistics platforms and networks without major operational changes

• Real-time ocean freight tracking with push alerts and automated data export via application programming interface (API) to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

• Efficient scaling of operations without linear increases in resources

• Geo-map functionality providing real-time location data including current location, number of shipments, estimated port arrival, status and speed

• Item-level tracking by stock keeping unit (SKU) or item across vessel and container locations

• Operations dashboards to identify shipments at risk of incurring detention charges