Transshipment

Transshipment refers to the act of unloading cargo from one vessel and reloading it onto another vessel to continue the journey to the destination port. It is common on routes without direct services or where direct services have excessively long transit times or high freight rates. Exporters must indicate 'transshipment allowed' or 'transshipment prohibited' on the bill of lading. Use cases include: no direct route between the port of loading and the port of destination, consolidation at an intermediate port, or choosing a transshipment route to save freight costs. Precautions: transshipment increases the risk of cargo damage, delay, and loss, and may incur additional costs (e.g., transshipment fees, storage fees); in letter of credit transactions, if the L/C does not explicitly allow transshipment, the bank may reject a transshipment bill of lading. Compared with 'direct shipment', transshipment offers greater flexibility but higher risk; unlike 'multimodal transport', transshipment involves only a change of vessel within the sea leg, whereas multimodal transport may include multiple modes of transport. Foreign trade practitioners should clearly stipulate transshipment clauses in the contract and insure against corresponding risks.