When break bulk beats containers
Container shipping is the default for good reasons: fixed sailings, a fixed price per box, and the cargo protected by the box. Break bulk and project tonnage earn their place in a specific set of cases.
| Your cargo | Why non-container tonnage is the better tool |
|---|---|
| Long lengths — pipes, piling, rails, steel structures, wind components | A flat rack still has limits on overhang and on lashing points. Long pieces travel better under deck or lashed on a multipurpose vessel, lifted on board in one crane lift. |
| Heavy single pieces — transformers, presses, generators, plant modules | Once a piece passes roughly 25–30 tonnes, crane capacity, lifting gear and stowage decide the plan rather than box dimensions. Heavy-lift vessels carry their own gear. |
| Large volumes of bulk-friendly cargo — bagged goods, steel coils, billets, minerals | At full-shipload volumes, bulk tonnage is usually the cheaper way to move tonnes of cargo that does not need to be boxed at all. |
| Wheeled, self-propelled or tracked units | RoRo is normally the answer: the unit rolls on and is lashed, with far less handling than a lift. |
| Awkward shapes — tanks, silos, frames, skids, complete production lines | Crated and lifted as units, with the lifting plan prepared before the cargo leaves the factory rather than at the quay. |
The tonnage options we work with
- Multipurpose (MPP) and heavy-lift vessels. Part cargo on a scheduled service, or a full parcel. These ships carry their own gear, with crane capacity typically in the 100–500 tonne range depending on the vessel.
- Part cargo on a bulk carrier. For bagged, bundled or crated cargo in the lower holds, space is sold by weight or by cubic capacity, on terms agreed with the owner.
- Chartered tonnage. When you have a full shipload, or can share one, the vessel is fixed for your laycan and your route instead of a published schedule.
- Break bulk liner services. Scheduled services on fixed port ranges. Departures are far fewer than on container services — on some routes a monthly sailing is normal, and peak season can book out several weeks ahead.
- Container alternatives. Sometimes the right answer is not a ship but a few flat racks, open tops or platform containers, or a container booking with a heavy-lift surcharge. We price both and tell you which one we would actually use.
To be clear about our role: we are the forwarder. We do not own tonnage and we do not claim to. Our job is to find the vessel that genuinely has the space for your cargo, negotiate the freight with the owner or operator, and carry the shipment through from booking to delivery at destination.
What we need from you to quote
- A packing list with weights and dimensions per piece — length × width × height in metres, and gross weight in tonnes. For machinery, the centre of gravity and the lifting point positions.
- Port pair. Loading port in China (or we nominate one based on where the factory is) and discharge port.
- Total volume. Whether it is one parcel, a part cargo, or repeat shipments — a project moving 5,000 tonnes a month is quoted very differently from a single 40-tonne lift.
- Readiness and laycan. When the cargo will be at the port, and the window you need it delivered in.
- The commercial terms you expect. FIOS, FILO, liner in / liner out — these decide who pays stevedoring at each end, and they are the single most common source of argument in a break bulk quotation.
- Packing and marking. Crated, bundled, bagged, loose? Markings should match the packing list exactly.
Send these and you get a written quotation with the vessel we would use, the freight basis, the local charges we can confirm and the ones that have to be quoted on arrival. If the cargo is one we cannot price competitively on a given route, we say so — and we tell you which of the two or three alternatives we would take.
How a break bulk rate is built
There is no per-box price to look up, so a quotation is assembled from parts. Knowing the parts is what lets you compare two quotations honestly.
| Component | How it is normally charged |
|---|---|
| Ocean freight | Per freight tonne (weight or measure, whichever is greater) for part cargo, or a lump sum for a full parcel or a chartered vessel. |
| Heavy lift surcharge | Applies per piece above the vessel's or the terminal's standard lifting weight, quoted as an extra per tonne or as a lumpsum per lift. |
| Lifting, lashing and securing | Shore cranes, stevedores, slings, spreader beams, lashing materials and the labour to secure the cargo — quoted per piece or per tonne. |
| Port charges, each end | Terminal handling, wharfage, port dues, towage, agency. Charged by the ports, and only ever confirmed once the vessel and the discharge port are fixed. |
| Documentation and survey | Bill of lading, cargo manifest, pre-shipment survey, tally and any certificate the destination customs requires. |
| Minimum quantity | Most break bulk quotations carry a minimum tonnage or minimum freight, which is why a 30-tonne enquiry sometimes comes back cheaper as flat racks. |
Because so much of it sits outside the ocean leg, we give you the freight and the confirmed charges first, then the destination-side items as estimates that the consignee's agent will firm up on arrival. A single all-in figure given for a project lift at first enquiry is, at best, an estimate of the port charges.
Ports we load and discharge on this trade
On the Chinese side, break bulk and heavy lift normally load at Shanghai, Tianjin (Xingang), Qingdao, Zhangjiagang, Nansha, Lianyungang, Rizhao and Dalian, with the factory location usually deciding which one. Ocean freight out of a nearby port is cheaper than trucking steel 1,000 km.
On the discharge side, the routes we quote most often are West Africa (Apapa / Lagos, Onne, Tema, Takoradi, Cotonou), East and Southern Africa (Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Beira, Maputo, Durban), the Middle East (Jebel Ali, Dammam, Hamad, Shuwaikh), South and Southeast Asia (Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Chennai, Haldia / Kolkata, Chittagong, Jakarta, Manila), and Latin America on inducement. If your discharge port is not on this list, ask anyway — inducement calls are a normal part of the business.
Documents and surveys
- Bill of lading. On part cargo it is normally a liner bill; on a chartered vessel it is a charter party bill, and the terms of the charter flow through to it. The difference matters to your bank if the shipment is on a letter of credit, so tell us at booking stage.
- Cargo manifest and stowage plan, issued with the vessel's papers.
- Pre-shipment survey or condition report for machinery and for anything that will be inspected at destination — photographs, dimensions as loaded, and any existing damage recorded before the lift.
- Tally and mate's receipts at both ends, so that quantity is verifiable on arrival.
- Certificate of origin, packing list, commercial invoice, insurance certificate, plus whatever import permit or pre-shipment inspection the destination country requires.
Six things that decide whether it sails on time
- Dimensions verified by tape, not from a drawing. Cargo built to a revised drawing that nobody sent through is the most common reason a lift is rejected at the quay.
- Lifting points identified and marked, with the centre of gravity known and the lifting plan agreed before the cargo is trucked to the port.
- Packing suitable for a sea voyage and for the lift — crates designed for road transport are often not strong enough to be slung.
- Customs export declaration filed early. Oversized cargo needs the declaration released before the vessel's cut-off, and cut-offs on break bulk services are less forgiving than container cut-offs, because the ship is only in port for a day or two.
- Laycan honoured. If the cargo arrives after the vessel has sailed, it waits for the next sailing, which on some routes means a month later.
- Destination-side plan agreed. Heavy lift at the discharge port needs a crane, a permit and a road survey arranged by the consignee, and those take longer to organise than the voyage.
Are we the right forwarder for this?
Break bulk and project cargo is one of the directions we are actively building, and we would rather tell you honestly where we stand than take a booking we cannot deliver. If your cargo is part cargo on an established service, we can usually quote and book it. If it needs a dedicated vessel, we will come back with the options we can genuinely secure and the terms attached to them.