Air Freight vs Sea Freight: What To Choose?

Often while relocating to a different country, a lot of questions arise about how to move your belongings – via air or sea? Is shipping by sea cheaper than shipping by air? Let’s attempt to answer some of the questions through these factors.

VALUE

Air freight is generally considered when the shipping cost is not more than 20% of the value of the items being shipped. To ship a large quantity of items would incur heavy expenses. Sea freight, on the other hand, offers more value and more capacity for the same price.

SPEED

Air freight is much faster compared to sea freight. By air, your goods can be transported in a matter of hours but by sea, the same amount of goods may take days to arrive at the destination.

SAFETY

Compared to sea freight, air freight is considered to be a more secure option. Cases of cargo damage are much more frequent when transporting via the sea.

TYPE OF CARGO/ REGULATIONS

One of the biggest advantages of sea freight is there are almost no restrictions on the type of cargo that can be carried unlike air freight were many of the hazardous items are banned.

However, sea freight is at a complete disadvantage when perishable goods are being transported. Also, temperature-sensitive goods do better through air freight.

ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT

Sea freight leaves behind a much lesser carbon footprint than air freight, thus being the more environment-friendly option.

ACCESSIBILITY

The chances of congestion while transporting through the air are much lesser than transporting via the sea. This has a lot to do with the volume of the cargo being transported. However, cargo via the sea can rich further inland than the cargo transported via air.

We hope this article helps you decide whether to choose air freight or ocean freight. For all your moving needs contact us at 21st Century Relocations. We also offer in-house customs clearance services and a lot more.

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