Sea freight: Connecting the world on the high seas

Transport your goods from A to B by sea freight for a cost-effective and sustainable option. Our dense network of port locations, own fleet and extensive experience with customized solutions ensure your goods reach their destination reliably and safely by sea.

View of a harbor from a bird's eye perspective
View of a harbor from a bird's eye perspective

Explore our sea freight solutions

With ocean freight, you can ship your cargo worldwide with the support of our long-standing partnerships with relevant port operators and shipping lines, in addition to our own fleet of vessels. We offer a wide range of solutions tailored to your ocean freight requirements, including LCL, FCL and buyer’s and seller’s consolidation. From river-sea transport and chartering services to supply and disposal for tankers, as well as customs clearance support, we cover all your ocean freight logistics needs.

What we offer

Ship your ocean freight cost-effectively with LCL, even for smaller shipments. By sharing container space, you significantly reduce shipping costs. Perfect for flexible transportation needs, LCL offers an economical solution without sacrificing reliability. Ideal for smaller importers and exporters, LCL allows you to ship smaller volumes and adapt to market demand. This means you can expand your business by using sea transportation and save costs in the process, as LCL is particularly cost-effective compared to air or rail transport.

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Shipping ocean freight as FCL is the best choice when the volume between fixed origins and destinations ensures optimal utilization. Benefit from customized container shipping that is adapted to your needs, continuous shipment tracking and paperless booking and shipping instructions for distribution to sea shipping companies.

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Combine LCL shipments into a single full-container load (FCL) with buyer’s and seller’s consolidation. This method for the transport of sea freight reduces costs, enhances supply chain transparency and improves cargo management, making it ideal for streamlined, cost-effective global logistics.

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Short sea transportation is an effective link between industrial regions and markets. Regular liner services between major port locations offer you time and cost savings as well as environmentally friendly transportation options. With door-to-door services for sea freight, we deliver goods directly to you quickly and reliably. Our just-in-time deliveries also ensure that the desired goods or materials arrive on time for your production.

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We specialize in offering you comprehensive transport services for offshore projects. Whether it’s the safe transfer of your crew by ship or helicopter or reliable supplies for your employees on offshore platforms – we’ve got you covered. Our groupage services are our specialty, combining shipments for different platforms to reduce costs and protect the environment. We also offer customized solutions for complete wind farm campaigns.

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Your benefits

Transporting goods by sea freight saves you money as it is the most cost-effective transport option. Moreover, we adapt precisely to your specific logistics needs.

Ocean transport is a highly sustainable option for the transport of sea freight.

Benefit from fixed departures and reliable transit times by sea freight, as well as optimized and stable supply chains and reliable availability.

Make use of our intercontinental transport services for trade routes and markets with the Deep Sea Transport service.

We take care of the complete coordination of your shipments with pre- and on-carriage and always comply with applicable regulations.

Why choose Rhenus for sea freight services

  • Strong network to support you around the globe; benefit from our gateway services, which are globally oriented yet locally focused
  • Strong relationships with all major shipping companies as reliable partners
  • Complete services along the supply chain with solutions from a single source
  • Flexibility with our customized industry solutions
  • Enhanced security thanks to real-time shipment tracking during the entire transportation process
  • Digital efficiency with our paperless booking system and digital platforms enhancing transparency and control
  • Strategic market expansion support to help you enter and expand in new markets, facilitated by our comprehensive support and strategic logistics planning

Value-added services for ocean freight

Worker in a warehouse operating a wrapping machine, securing large stacks of goods on pallets with plastic wrap.

Sea freight handling

We take care of all your requirements when it comes to handling ocean freight, be it intelligent storage, repackaging, neutralization, sorting, intelligent monitoring, labeling, checking shipments or palletizing.

Folders and documents organized in a filing drawer

Document solutions for sea freight shipments

Document solutions for sea freight shipments: benefit from our proof of delivery and invoices on paper instead of sending them electronically. These are some of the most important documents in the transportation process, confirming that your shipment has been properly delivered. Courier services can also provide fast and reliable delivery of confidential documents to various countries. If you need digital data to make your operations as efficient as possible, we offer customized reporting for managing your data.

Person in a warehouse wearing an orange safety vest and checking boxes with a clipboard, surrounded by neatly stacked cardboard boxes.

Customs clearance

We make sure that your sea freight shipments get through customs smoothly. We always comply with the latest customs regulations. Whether you want to import or export goods, we are at your side. We handle customs clearance either directly through our own experts or in cooperation with trusted partners. You can rest assured that your shipments are in good hands.

Person reading documents near a window with a view of a harbor and cargo cranes in the distance.

Marine cargo insurance

Our customized transport insurance solutions protect the value of your freight. We protect your sea freight against all risks of physical loss or damage during transportation by land, sea or air. This allows you to effectively manage the financial consequences of damage. We know that not all transportation routes are equally safe and not all goods are equally sensitive to damage. However, with our insurance services, you are always on the safe side.

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E-solutions for your sea freight

We seamlessly integrate your IT systems with our own to automate the exchange of important business data such as shipping orders or status codes. This means you can rely on efficient processes. Our solution enables structured data to be transferred directly between computers according to an agreed standard, without manual intervention. This leads to improved data quality, fewer errors and faster processing of your transactions.

Our certificates for quality management

DIN EN ISO 9001:2015

Certified under DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, Rhenus ensures high-quality sea and river navigation, inland waterway transport and related services with full compliance that meet your highest expectations.

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Preview of DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 certification for quality management standards

Rhenus is a DIN EN ISO 14001:2015-certified provider of sustainable logistics solutions that minimize environmental impact while meeting your needs with eco-conscious practices.

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Preview of DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 certification for environmental management standards

Rhenus optimizes energy efficiency in inland waterway transport and provides reliable services while reducing energy consumption and environmental impact, certified according to DIN EN.

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Preview of DIN EN ISO 50001:2015 certification for energy management standards

As a GMP-certified company, Rhenus guarantees quality and safety throughout the entire logistics process and ensures the safe and compliant transport of animal feed by inland waterway. 

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review of GMP 021403 certification for good manufacturing practices
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Are you looking for a reliable and well connected partner in sea freight logistics?

Reach out to our experts, who will be happy to offer you extensive guidance and support.

Frequently asked questions

Sea freight refers to the transportation of goods by sea, i.e. by ship. It is used for various types of goods, from raw materials such as coal and oil to finished products such as cars and electronics. Companies often use ocean freight to transport large quantities of goods over long distances as it is usually more cost-effective compared to other means of transportation such as airfreight or land transport, especially for long distances.

In general, air freight is more expensive than sea freight, mainly due to the higher cost of operating planes compared to ships, as well as the limited capacity of planes compared to cargo ships. Air freight is often used for urgent shipments or for goods that require fast delivery, while ocean freight is often used for larger quantities of goods over longer distances as it is generally more cost-effective.

You can choose between full charter services and general cargo shipments. We can handle any type of cargo, from containers to bulk and general cargo, from dangerous or liquid goods to heavy and oversized project cargo. For deep sea transportation, we use our long-standing relationships with reputable sea shipping companies to charter vessels and ensure that your goods arrive at their destination on time, anywhere in the world. For smaller deep sea shipments, we consolidate your freight on one ship and transport it to your chosen destination. Sea freight consolidation leads to cost savings for you.

With our consolidation services, you as the buyer can group your LCL shipments together with other orders from different suppliers to save costs. Your individual shipments are consolidated in one center and sent in a common container as an FCL shipment, which is then delivered to the destination. If you are acting as a seller, we can load your various shipments from the same point of origin into an FCL container and send them directly to the port of destination. There, the consignments are unloaded and distributed to the appropriate recipients. This saves you time and effort when shipping your sea freight and, at the same time, you benefit from greater transparency and control over your transport chain.