For centuries the shipping industry has been the lifeline and main driving force behind the flourishing of trade, commerce and economy of UK. Still now the maritime sector of UK is the largest one in Europe. As a result of tonnage tax introduced in the year of 2000 the number of freight vessels registered under UK has increased at lot. With about 95% of the goods that is consumed or produced in UK being transported by sea through its 52 major ports, the shipping sector is a thriving and lucrative industry in UK.
However, the functioning of this sector is not easy to understand. But if you want to utilize this sector for your business consignments or even transporting your personal goods like cars, furniture etc. overseas, then you must be properly informed about how the shipping industry works and the major players associated ensuring that the whole process runs smoothly. We at Maritime Information shall be providing you with UK shipping information to make you properly equipped in dealing with the shipping agents who are directly responsible to you for the transportation of your goods.
- The primary service is provided by the shipping agents, who arrange the transportation of goods and thus are directly responsible for shipping client’s containers.
- Possessing the knowledge about the ship schedules, rates, and availability of cargo carriers places them in better situation to deal with shipping companies in reserving cargo space with carriers; negotiate rates; fix up the freight insurance; compute the weight, bulk, and cost of freight to be transported; prepare quotations, invoices, bills of shipment, and letters of credit; They also maintain a broad record of all shipped goods.
- Another important group is the customs brokers which work on the behalf of the importer providing clearance of cargo through international customs barriers.
- Most shipping agency companies either provide freight forwarding services or custom broking. However certain companies provide both.
- Shipping agents can also provide freight consolidation service i.e. buying space on ships and resell it at higher rates.
However once into dealing in this vast industry you shall find that there are lots other complex factors which you need to deal with. For example shipping companies don’t function directly with the importer and exporter. It is the shipping agent who deals with them to get your shipments transported. Nevertheless it is always better if you get an overview of the functioning and dealings of shipping companies. For this we shall be providing more in-depth information about the shipping industry along with reviews about shipping agents and shipping companies of UK so as to make your search for a proper shipping agent a lot more convenient.