What are the modes of operation of ocean transportation?

Ocean transportation is the most important mode of transportation in international trade, and most of China's import and export goods are also transported by sea. According to different modes of operation, ocean transportation can be divided into charter transportation and liner transportation.

I. Charter transportation

Charter transportation, also known as irregular transportation, usually refers to chartering the whole ship, and a few people also rent some shipping spaces. The so-called "chartering" means that according to the charter party, the shipowner leases the ship to the charterer to complete a specific freight task, and the charterer pays the freight at the agreed freight rate. In international trade, bulk cargo is suitable for chartering.

(1) Method of chartering

1, voyage charter; ; Travel charter. Also known as voyage charter or voyage charter, it refers to the way of voyage charter. There are also single voyage chartering, round voyage chartering, continuous single voyage chartering and continuous round voyage chartering. The characteristics of time chartering are: mainly transporting large quantities of low-value goods; There is no fixed route, fixed loading and unloading port and fixed shipping schedule, but it is affirmed in the form of charter party through consultation between the two parties according to the needs and possibilities of the shipowner; The prescribed loading and unloading rates and demurrage charges; The freight rate is restricted by the law of supply and demand in the charter market.

2. Time charter party. Also known as time charter, it refers to the way of chartering a ship within a certain period of time, that is, the shipowner rents the ship to the charterer for a certain period of time, during which the charterer will dispatch and manage it himself. The lease period ranges from a few months to several years. China's transport agencies sometimes charter ships to avoid self-operated liner routes. The characteristics of time charter are: during the lease period, the ship is managed by the lessee; Only the navigation area of the ship is specified, but the route and loading and unloading port are not specified; Unless otherwise specified, all kinds of legal goods can be shipped; The shipowner is responsible for the maintenance of the ship and the normal operation of the machine; Do not stipulate loading and unloading rates and demurrage charges; The rent is calculated according to the monthly (or 30-day) lease period per DWT- dwt; The rights and obligations of both parties shall be based on the charter party.

(2) Charter party

Charter party is a legal document reached by the charterer and the shipowner on the rights and obligations of both parties in chartering the ship or part of its space. If foreign-funded enterprises need to charter a large number of goods, they usually only use chartering. In addition to the names of the shipowner and charterer, the contents of the charter party should usually stipulate the name of the ship, the flag, the name and quantity of the goods to be transported, the port of loading and unloading, the loading period, freight and handling fees, loading and unloading time or rate, demurrage and dispatch fees.

Freight is the reward for the ship to provide transportation services, and paying freight is the charterer's main obligation. In the charter party, it is generally stipulated that the freight rate is charged according to a certain amount per ton of cargo load; Or all-in freight. If the former is adopted, it should also be clear whether it is planned according to the intake quantity or the export quantity. Currency and payment time of freight, whether prepaid or collect, or partially prepaid or collect. The specific time limit and percentage should also be clearly defined. The level of chartering freight is often influenced by the relationship between supply and demand in the shipping market. In addition, the freight of chartering depends on the distance, the value of the goods, the difficulty of transportation, the equipment needed, the time of loading and unloading and the division of loading and unloading expenses.

There are four ways to divide the loading and unloading expenses of charter party: (1) f.i.o. (free entry and exit), that is, the ship is not responsible for the loading and unloading expenses of the goods. In order to further clarify the division of responsibilities and expenses for cargo loading and bulk cargo leveling, it is necessary to use F.I.O.S.T. (Free in and Out of Stowed Trimmed), that is, the ship is not responsible for cargo loading and unloading, cargo leveling and leveling; (2) F.O. (F.O.B.), that is, the ship is responsible for the loading costs, not the unloading costs; (3) F.I. (FOB) means that the ship is responsible for the unloading expenses, but not the loading expenses; (4) General terms or berth terms, that is, the ship is responsible for the loading and unloading expenses.

The length of loading and unloading time affects the service life of the ship and directly affects the interests of the ship, so it has become an important clause in the charter party. Generally speaking, the loading and unloading time is expressed in days (or hours), and it can also be expressed by the average daily loading and unloading of several tons, that is, the loading and unloading rate. Within the specified loading and unloading time, which should be counted as working days and which should be excluded, there are mainly the following three methods:

1, calculated by days or running or continuous days: that is, at the beginning of the time limit, all days that cannot be loaded and unloaded, such as snowstorm days, sundays or holidays, are counted in the loading and unloading time limit. This calculation method is usually only suitable for oil, ore and other commodities that are not affected by day and night and wind and rain when loading and unloading by oil pipes or conveyor belts.

2. Calculated by working days: working days refer to the days when relevant ports can work, so sundays and legal holidays are not included. The normal working hours of each working day, if not stipulated in the charter party, can be handled according to the port customs.

3. Calculated according to weather working days: that is, except Sundays and public holidays, working days (or working hours) that cannot be loaded and unloaded due to bad weather are not included in the loading and unloading time. Although "weather working day" already contains the meaning of "working day", for the sake of clarity, it is customary to call "weather working day except Sunday and holiday", or further stipulate that "except Sunday and holiday, even if Sunday and holiday have been used, that is to say, Sunday and holiday should be deducted from the loading and unloading time. Even if the second-hand charterer has actually used sundays or holidays, the ship has no right to include sundays and holidays in the loading and unloading time.

If the goods are not fully loaded and unloaded within the specified loading and unloading time, which causes the ship to continue to dock at the port, increases the shipowner's expenses at the port and loses the ship's schedule, the compensation (liquidated damages) shall be paid to the shipowner according to the actual delay time from the end of the allowed loading and unloading time to the completion of all the goods loading and unloading, which is called demurrage or demurrage. On the other hand, if the charterer completes the loading and unloading operation ahead of schedule, the ship can leave the port ahead of schedule, so that the shipowner can save the port fee and get the profit of the shipping schedule, and the shipowner should pay the charterer a certain reward for the time saved, which is the dispatching fee. For these two kinds of expenses, the charter party usually stipulates a certain amount per day, and the part-time job is calculated in proportion. The specific amount depends on the operating cost of the ship. Dispatch fee is usually half of demurrage fee.

In an international contract for the sale of goods, when bulk goods need to be transported by charter flights, in order to clarify the responsibilities of buyers and sellers and prevent the other party from delaying loading (or unloading), one party should clearly specify the loading and unloading time or conditions, the terms of demurrage and dispatch fees, the technical and equipment conditions of the ship that may be rented, the loading and unloading capacity of the port, the port habits, the freight level of the shipping market and other factors in the sales contract according to the types of goods, so as to prevent the contract from being damaged.

Second, liner shipping.

Liner shipping, also known as regular shipping liner, refers to ships sailing on fixed routes, ports and pre-announced voyages, engaging in passenger and cargo transportation, and charging freight at pre-announced rates. Liner shipping is more suitable for the transportation of general groceries and small quantities of goods. In international shipping business, except for bulk commodities, most of them are transported by liner. As long as the liner has shipping space, the liner companies are usually willing to carry the goods with sporadic transactions, multiple batches and scattered arrivals, regardless of the quantity, direct or transshipment. In addition, liner transportation procedures are simple, which brings convenience to the cargo side and can provide better transportation quality. Therefore, the use of liner shipping is conducive to the development of international trade.

(A) the characteristics of liner shipping

Liner shipping has the following three characteristics: 1, "four fixed". That is, fixed routes, fixed ports, fixed shipping schedules and relatively fixed freight rates; 2. "One responsibility". That is, the carrier is responsible for loading and unloading the goods, and the freight has included the loading and unloading expenses, and neither the carrier nor the shipper calculates demurrage and courier fees; 3. The rights, obligations and liabilities of the carrier and the shipper are exempted on the basis of the terms of the issued bill of lading. Among them, "four responsibilities" is the basic feature of liner transportation.

(2) Liner freight

Liner freight is the cost of transporting goods charged by liner companies to shippers. It includes the loading and unloading fees of the goods and the transportation fees and additional fees of the goods from the port of shipment to the port of destination.

1, liner tariff table

Liner freight consists of basic freight and additional fees, which are charged according to the provisions of liner freight. Different liner conferences or different shipping companies have different freight rates, but they are all determined according to different stowage coefficients, different properties and values of various commodities and different routes and voyages. Liner tariff table generally includes description and relevant regulations, cargo classification table, route tariff table, surcharge tariff table, refrigerated goods and live animals tariff table, etc. For the provisions of the basic rate, some tariff lists the basic rate of each item, which is called "single rate tariff"; Some goods are divided into several grades (generally divided into 20 grades), and each grade has a basic rate (the first lowest rate and the twentieth highest rate), which is called "grade freight table".

2, the calculation standard of liner basic freight

The basic freight of liner transportation includes the loading fee at the loading port, the unloading fee at the destination port and the transportation fee from the loading port to the destination port. The calculation criteria mainly include: (1) According to the gross weight of the goods, it is represented by the letter "W" in the freight table. Generally, metric tons are used as the charging unit, and some are charged according to long tons or short tons. It is called the weight ton. (2) According to the volume of the goods, it is indicated by the letter "M" in the freight table. The general billing unit is 1 m3, and part of it is charged at 40 cubic feet, which is called "large and small tons". Size tons and the above-mentioned weight tons are called freight tons. (3) According to the price of the goods, it is also called ad valorem freight. It is indicated by "A.C." or "Ad Valoerm" in the price list, and it is generally charged according to a certain proportion of FOB price. (4) According to the gross weight or volume of the goods, the goods are collected from the height, which is indicated by the letter "W/M" in the freight table. That is, where the volume of one ton of goods exceeds 1 cubic meter or 40 cubic feet, it will be levied according to the size of tons; Less than 1 m3 or 40 cubic feet shall be collected by weight tons. The price list also indicates "w/m or a.v" and "W/M Plus"; A.V. ",the former means that the freight is charged according to the higher of the weight or volume of the goods or the ad valorem; The latter is to collect goods from a height according to gross weight or volume, and then add a certain proportion of ad valorem freight. (5) according to the number of goods. E.g., an automobile pressing unit and a live animal pressing head); ; (6) Opening rate. Suitable for agricultural and sideline products such as grain, beans, coal and ore. Large volume, low price and fast loading and unloading speed shall be temporarily agreed by the shipowner and the shipping company.

3. Liner shipping surcharge

Additional charges in liner transportation mainly include fuel adjustment coefficient (BAF), overweight surcharge, extra-long surcharge, cabin washing fee, direct surcharge, selective surcharge, port surcharge, port congestion surcharge, depreciation surcharge, etc. Due to the various names of surcharges, which account for a large proportion of liner freight, more attention should be paid to prevent omissions or miscalculations in specific business.

4. Calculation method of liner freight

To calculate liner freight, it is usually necessary to find out the classification and charging standard of goods in English alphabetical order according to their English names. On this basis, find out the basic rates and related additional rates of routes and ports in the route rate table. The sum of the basic rate and the additional rate of a certain cargo is the unit freight rate of each freight ton of the cargo, and then the total freight is multiplied by the billing weight or volume of the batch of goods. For ad valorem goods, the total freight shall be calculated by multiplying the percentage specified in the freight schedule by the total FOB price of the goods. If the temporary agreed freight rate is adopted, it shall be charged according to the freight rate agreed between the owner and the shipping company.

It is worth noting that according to the provisions of the General Tariff, if different goods are mixed in one package (excluding containers), the freight of combined goods will be charged according to the goods with high charges; Because of the different packaging of the same commodity, the charging standard is different. If the specific packaging form is not specified at the time of consignment, all goods should be charged according to the packaging with high freight rate; If there are more than two kinds of goods with different pricing standards in the same bill of lading, and the name and quantity of the goods are not specified at the time of consignment, the charging standard and freight shall be calculated according to the higher one.

In addition, there are provisions on the lowest freight rate in the liner tariff table. The lowest freight rate of each bill of lading depends on the transshipment situation in different regions. However, if the volume of all goods does not exceed 0.2 cubic meters and the weight does not exceed 50 kilograms, the shipping company can be required to transport them free of charge.