Short sea shipping is the movement of goods by ship without crossing the ocean, usually staying across a continent. It is an efficient and eco-friendly option for transporting goods domestically, but environmental costs and benefits should be weighed.
Short sea shipping is the movement of goods by ship without crossing the ocean, usually staying across a continent such as North America or Africa. It is also known as coastal shipping, a reference to the fact that ships tend to stay close to shore to complete their voyages. In addition to traveling on the ocean, they can also move across inland waters such as lakes and canals to bring goods to the regions served by these waterways.
The use of short sea shipping varies across the world. In Europe and Southeast Asia, it is an extremely common shipping method. Without leaving deep water, ships can take goods to a variety of locations, and those goods may never need to travel over roads. This can limit road congestion and provide a mechanism for transporting people and cargo, because coastal transport can include ships that also accept passengers for short trips.
This can be an excellent option for moving domestic cargo if you are between two cities near the coast, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, or New York and Miami. It is possible to transfer freight from large ocean-going vessels to smaller vessels for short sea shipping in port without the need to load trucks or rail cars. Shipping speed may vary as some ships travel faster than others. It is also possible to ship internationally between nations on the same continent.
Companies can offer a mix of short sea shipping and other options, or they can focus exclusively on this method of transport. The cost of moving cargo generally depends on the size and type. Fragile or perishable goods cost more to ship, and customers can receive discounts for large loads, particularly bulk loads that fill an entire ship. It may be possible to negotiate a special rate on a hidden ship that is eager to add cargo so that it can sail at full load by a certain deadline.
There may be environmental costs and benefits to short sea shipping. Carrier practices can be critical in determining whether it is more environmentally friendly than other shipping methods. Trains tend to be highly efficient, with very low pollution levels, while boats can generate combustion by-products, oil spills and other problems, in addition to disturbing marine organisms. These issues should be weighed by companies considering short sea shipping for their cargo needs if they have environmental concerns.
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