Ocean Freight
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Ocean freight is the cornerstone of global trade, accounting for more than 90% of international trade. Team INTERNATIONAL is a specialized player in container shipping and ocean freight consolidation, recognized for its logistics expertise, extensive international network, and advanced tracking technologies.
Our integrated approach to international ocean transport covers every stage of the logistics chain: initial pickup, container stuffing, booking, customs clearance export and import, terminal handling and final delivery. Thanks to strategic partnerships with the world’s leading shipping lines and a network of certified agents and partners across five continents, we guarantee reliability, traceability, and the optimization of your ocean freight flows.
Our Ocean Freight Solutions: Flexibility and Operational Performance
Comprehensive Range of Maritime Shipping Services
From the initial contact, our team assesses the nature of the goods, urgency requirements, and customs and regulatory constraints. That said, our role as a freight forwarder is to propose the best logistics setup: choice of operator, transport solution, negotiation of air freight rates (price per kilo, aircraft chartering, bookings with airlines).
Value-Added Services and Global Support
On the other hand, our range of complementary services makes Team INTERNATIONAL a true conductor of your international maritime supply chain. We manage and coordinate all import-export customs formalities, including tariff classification and the preparation of documentation files in coordination with our approved customs brokers. This administrative delegation frees your teams from regulatory constraints while ensuring the compliance of your operations.
Marine cargo insurance, often overlooked but legally critical, receives our special attention. We offer tailor-made coverage adapted to the nature and value of your goods, protecting you against general and particular average and extraordinary risks of ocean transport. This financial protection safeguards your operating account against the uncertainties inherent in international shipping.
In addition, our comprehensive range of maritime services is complemented by port warehousing and last-mile distribution services. This integrated approach optimizes transit times, minimizes breaks in load, and guarantees smooth, harmonized door-to-door delivery. We handle your goods from the point of shipment to their final destination, significantly simplifying the management of your international logistics chains.
Digitalization and Client Management Tools
In fact, the digital transformation of the maritime sector is revolutionizing the customer experience in terms of shipment visibility and control. Team INTERNATIONAL provides proactive tracking of your shipments and informs you at critical milestones (vessel loading, port arrival, customs clearance, final delivery). All shipping documents (B/L, commercial invoice, packing list, certificates) are centralized and transmitted to you securely. This operational transparency anticipates disruptions, facilitates planning for your inbound deliveries, and professionalizes communication with your recipient customers.
Our platforms centralize all information relating to your ocean shipments. Continuous container tracking via carrier/terminal information and communication of updated ETAs. Digitization streamlines documentation processes, minimizes errors, and significantly optimizes your administrative efficiency.
We integrate our logistics exchanges into your internal processes to limit re-entry and streamline supplier/receiving management. This interoperability automates data exchanges, eliminates manual re-entry, and generates substantial productivity gains for your logistics and procurement teams.
Our Ocean Freight Process: End-to-End Operational Excellence
Consultation and Solution Development Phase
It is important to note that every ocean freight project begins with an in-depth analysis phase of your specific needs, cargo constraints, and time and budget requirements. Our logistics consultants study the nature of your products, their physical characteristics, their value, and their sensitivity to transport conditions to tailor the most appropriate ocean solution.
Our consulting expertise includes Incoterms optimization, which helps to clearly define responsibilities and costs between the seller and the buyer. Thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the logistical, customs, and insurance implications of each Incoterm, we secure your commercial negotiations and prevent future disputes. This legal and commercial added value extends far beyond simple transport.
The detailed quotation resulting from this analysis consolidates all costs: basic ocean freight, surcharges (BAF, CAF, PSS), THC (Terminal Handling Charges), documentation fees, ancillary logistics services, and estimated customs duties (not systematic and subject to HS CODE information, value of each commodity). This transparent pricing allows you to accurately assess the total cost of your operation and optimize your cost price structure.
Booking, Documentation, and Shipment Preparation
As soon as your transport order is validated, the operational phase is launched. This phase triggers a series of coordinated actions to reserve container space and organize the shipment within the planned deadlines. Our booking team negotiates daily with shipping lines to optimize space allocations and pricing conditions, allowing you to benefit from our consolidated purchasing power.
The preparation of documentation mobilizes our regulatory expertise to ensure compliance with the customs requirements of the departure and destination countries. We produce or validate commercial documents (invoices, packing lists), certificates of origin, sanitary or phytosanitary documents depending on the nature of the goods, and export customs declarations. This documentary rigor prevents costly customs blockages.
The logistical organization of container availability, its transport to your loading site, the supervision of stuffing, and secure sealing are critical steps requiring coordination and professionalism. Our network of qualified road carriers ensures these operations according to our quality standards, guaranteeing adherence to deadlines and the integrity of your goods.
Ocean Transit, Tracking, and Final Delivery
The sea voyage is subject to continuous monitoring. This proactive surveillance immediately detects planning deviations, vessel changes, or port congestions, allowing us to alert our clients and activate corrective action plans.
Port operations for unloading, import customs clearance, and final delivery mobilize our local teams present in major international ports. This geographical presence accelerates formalities, optimizes port transit costs, and ensures rapid handling of your container upon arrival. Our carefully selected network of correspondents extends our operational excellence to all global destinations.
Final delivery, whether direct unloading at the consignee's premises or after temporary storage in our logistics platforms, closes the transport cycle under our responsibility. This comprehensive support radically simplifies your management, transforming a complex multi-stakeholder process into a single service coordinated by Team INTERNATIONAL.
Our Distinctive Strengths: Performance, Security, and Responsibility
24/7 Tracking and Real-time Shipment Visibility
It is worth noting that comprehensive traceability is now an essential prerequisite for any international shipper keen to control their flows and proactively inform their clients. Team INTERNATIONAL has developed a cutting-edge technological infrastructure enabling the geolocated tracking of your containers at every stage of their maritime and terrestrial journey.
Our multi-source tracking system aggregates data from shipping companies, port terminals, land carriers, and onboard GPS beacons to reconstruct a unified and real-time updated view. This intelligent consolidation eliminates visibility blind spots and guarantees you reliable information on the location and status of your goods.
You are notified in real time of important milestones by our operations team. This proactive communication enables you to anticipate your deliveries, optimize your handling resources, and provide professional information to your end clients.
Comprehensive Insurance Coverage and Claims Management
Despite all operational precautions, maritime transport involves inherent risks justifying appropriate insurance coverage. Team INTERNATIONAL offers all-risk insurance policies covering particular average (damage specifically affecting your cargo), general average (contribution to voluntary losses to save the vessel), and war and strike risks depending on the navigation zones.
Our expertise in claims management significantly simplifies procedures in the event of an incident. We compile claim files, coordinate contradictory expert assessments, negotiate with shipping companies and insurers, and accelerate compensation processes. This valuable assistance spares you direct confrontation with complex procedures and international interlocutors.
Prevention, however, remains our absolute priority. Our rigorous stuffing procedures, our demanding selection of maritime partners, and our vigilance in choosing routes drastically minimize the probability of incidents. This culture of quality results in a very low claims rate.
Regulatory Compliance and Environmental Responsibility
For illustrative purposes, customs and regulatory compliance represents a critical challenge in a context of tightening controls and increasing complexity of international standards. Team INTERNATIONAL maintains permanent regulatory monitoring of developments in customs, health, environmental, and safety legislation across all our areas of operation.
Our network of qualified customs correspondents ensures scrupulous adherence to local formalities, preventing blockages, penalties, and the destruction of non-compliant goods. This regulatory expertise is a valuable asset, particularly for shippers unfamiliar with the administrative requirements of emerging markets.
Team INTERNATIONAL's environmental commitment is demonstrated by the systematic provision of CO₂ emissions reports for each of your maritime shipments. This carbon transparency facilitates your CSR reporting, helps you identify levers for environmental optimization, and demonstrates your societal commitment to your stakeholders. We systematically prioritize shipping companies investing in less polluting vessels and alternative fuels.
Business Sectors and Specialized Expertise
Industries and Product Categories Handled
Team INTERNATIONAL's sectoral expertise covers a particularly wide spectrum of industries and types of goods, each presenting specific logistical and regulatory constraints. The automotive and spare parts sector represents a significant portion of our activity, with perfect mastery of transporting rolling vehicles, sensitive components, and spare parts batches requiring traceability and responsiveness.
The textile and apparel industry benefits from our in-depth knowledge of seasonal flows, merchandise presentation requirements, and collection calendar constraints. Our ability to manage peak activity and secure critical shelf-stocking deadlines constitutes a decisive competitive advantage for our clients in the fashion sector.
Dangerous goods (chemicals, lithium batteries, aerosols, paints) receive particular attention given the extremely strict IMO (International Maritime Organization) regulations.
We work with authorized partners for classification, declaration, and compliance with IMO regulations. This rare expertise positions us as a privileged partner for the chemical and electronics industries.
Dedicated Solutions for Fresh and Temperature-Sensitive Products
Note that temperature-controlled transport requires specialized technical expertise and logistical infrastructure that Team INTERNATIONAL has developed to meet the needs of the agri-food and pharmaceutical sectors. We organize reefer container solutions for fresh and sensitive products, with temperature control during sea transport to preserve the integrity of the goods.
Continuous temperature monitoring via connected electronic recorders guarantees compliance with the cold chain throughout the maritime transit. The installation of a Data Logger for temperature monitoring in a container is possible upon request and incurs an additional cost.. These downloadable data provide irrefutable proof of thermal compliance, essential for quality audits and sanitary certifications. This technical traceability secures your responsibilities and preserves the quality of your products.
Agri-food exports, a strategic sector for the French economy, benefit from our expertise in complex document management: sanitary certificates, certificates of origin, phytosanitary documents, and compliance with import regulations of destination markets. This administrative mastery accelerates customs clearance and prevents the destruction of perishable goods.
Industrial Equipment and Special Projects
The transport of industrial equipment, production equipment, and oversized goods mobilizes logistics engineering skills. Team INTERNATIONAL has capitalized on these diverse skills through large-scale international projects.
Our special projects department studies the optimal solutions: flat rack container, open top container, conventional transport, or dedicated vessel chartering depending on volumes and dimensional constraints.
The management of turnkey industrial projects integrates all related services: feasibility studies, packaging engineering, specific insurance, complex document management, and multi-site coordination. A global approach that radically simplifies the management of your international industrial investment projects.
Geographic Coverage: A Global Maritime Network
Key Shipping Routes Operated
Team INTERNATIONAL’s ocean network is built on strategic partnerships with the world’s leading global shipping alliances, ensuring weekly sailing frequencies and comprehensive coverage of international trade routes. Transatlantic Europe–North America services represent a major part of our business, with regular services from French ports to U.S. hubs. And the Middle East? Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey and Egypt.
Asia–Europe routes, vital arteries of global trade, benefit from our strengthened operational presence in the main Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian ports. This Asian footprint facilitates the management of your manufacturing supplies and optimises transit times to Europe via the Suez or Panama canals.
Emerging destinations in South America and Africa receive particular attention given the economic momentum in these regions and the growing trade opportunities. Our network of local correspondents offsets infrastructure shortcomings at certain ports and secures your shipments to these high-potential markets, which nevertheless present increased operational risks.
Strategic Port Hubs and Inland Connections
Our positioning strategy prioritises the main global port hubs, enabling transit costs to be optimised and connection options to be maximised. Northern European ports (Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg) are natural gateways to the continental European market, benefiting from excellent inland waterway and rail connections to the hinterland.
Mediterranean ports (Marseille-Fos, Genoa, Valencia, Piraeus) offer competitive alternatives for Asia–Europe flows via Suez, with shorter transit times and efficient cabotage solutions to secondary ports in the Mediterranean basin. This range of port options enables us to optimise your costs and lead times according to your logistics priorities.
Inland connections from ports to your final delivery sites draw on our network of road hauliers and partner rail operators. This multimodal integration (ocean + inland) under a single point of responsibility simplifies your management and guarantees optimal coordination across the different transport phases.
Team INTERNATIONAL Maritime Freight FAQ 2026
What are the average ocean transit times by destination?
Ocean transit times vary considerably depending on trade routes and origin/destination ports. For Asia-Europe, allow 25 to 35 days port-to-port via Suez, 35 to 45 days via Panama. North America-Europe requires 12 to 18 days for the East Coast, 25 to 30 days for the West Coast. Africa shows highly variable lead times of 10 to 40 days depending on the region.
These port-to-port durations must be supplemented by pre- and post-land transport (3-7 days) and customs clearance times (2-5 days). Team INTERNATIONAL provides precise estimates for each specific project.
How are ocean freight rates calculated, and what hidden fees should be anticipated?
The cost of basic ocean freight services (expressed in dollars - in euros per container) constitutes the main cost, but numerous surcharges apply: BAF (Bunker Adjustment Factor) reflecting fuel prices, CAF (Currency Adjustment Factor) compensating for exchange rate fluctuations, PSS (Peak Season Surcharge) during high season. THC (Terminal Handling Charges) cover port handling operations.
Additional charges include documentation fees, Bill of Lading, security inspection, VGM (container weighing), and potentially port congestion. Team INTERNATIONAL offers all-inclusive quotes, thus guaranteeing no unforeseen costs not specified in the quote, with the exception of those that cannot be anticipated but are clearly indicated in the quote.
Is LCL (groupage) transport truly economical for small volumes?
Not always. Sometimes, with LCL, the higher the volume, the more the price decreases. However, the savings must be weighed against slightly longer lead times (consolidation/deconsolidation) and an increased risk of damage during multiple handling operations.
Team INTERNATIONAL systematically optimizes the FCL/LCL choice based on your volume, time constraints, and the nature of your goods. Our efficient consolidation network minimizes the drawbacks of LCL.
How does Team INTERNATIONAL guarantee the security of goods during ocean transit?
Security relies on several pillars: rigorous selection of reliable shipping companies that are members of major alliances, use of controlled and sealed containers, optimized stuffing procedures (chocking, lashing), secure sealing with numbered seals, all-risk insurance covering particular and general average.
GPS tracking allows for the detection of any anomaly (unauthorized opening, route deviation). In the event of a claim, our dedicated service manages all claim and expert assessment procedures, accelerating your compensation.
What are the documentary obligations for maritime import/export in 2025?
The maritime documentation file must include: detailed commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin according to trade agreements, negotiable or non-negotiable Bill of Lading, export and import customs declaration, sanitary/phytosanitary certificates for foodstuffs, EUR1 certificate to benefit from preferential agreements, certificate of conformity according to the technical regulations of the destination country.
Dangerous goods require an MSDS and the IMO declaration. Team INTERNATIONAL produces or validates all these documents, ensuring regulatory compliance.
Does Team INTERNATIONAL offer ecological and responsible ocean freight solutions?
Absolutely. Our environmental commitment is reflected in several concrete initiatives: systematic calculation and reporting of CO₂ emissions for each shipment according to the GLEC methodology, prioritizing shipping companies investing in eco-efficient vessels (slow steaming, low-sulfur fuels, hydrodynamic optimization), offering routing alternatives that reduce the carbon footprint even at a slightly higher cost, optimizing container fill rates to maximize energy efficiency.