Types of International Shipping

In international shipping, there is a clear distinction between the tramp and linear forms of shipping. Tramp trade is characterized by a lack of systematic transportation. Typically, for tramp shipping, a carrier is not connected to a permanent navigation area, ports of loading and unloading. The cost of such transportation is established by agreement of the parties and depends on the market of transport services.

The linear form of shipping is characterized by its regularity, the consolidation of ships to the sea lines. The implementation of traffic in such shipping involves the movement of ships between certain ports on a previously announced schedule, or with a certain established frequency.

Linear shipping requires solving a set of organizational and technical issues, such as opening regular shipping lines and assigning to them groups of specifically named vessels of the same type. Ships of the same type are those possessing the same characteristics with respect to the capacity, speed, equipment, age, required set of devices, availability of special facilities, etc. These are also issues related to the timely preparation of vessel schedules. Such schedules are usually developed for the quarter ahead and contain the necessary amount of information for the consignors to solve logistical tasks.

The main advantage of liner shipping is the regularity and speed of delivery of goods to destinations. It is characterized by the transportation of goods in small lots, the dispersion of cargo traffic between a significant number of ports, the presence of a large number of senders and recipients.

The two types of international shipping correspond to the main types of international delivery - charter delivery and bill of lading delivery.

Charter shipping is a form of transportation, which is characterized by two aspects, firstly, it is not regulated in international legal acts; secondly, they are inherent to tramp shipping. The main source of their regulation are the norms of national legislation. In addition, pro forms are widely used in charter shipping, which are developed by maritime shipping companies, as well as international maritime organizations. The norms of national legislation governing charter transportations are inherently dispositive. This aspect will give the parties the freedom to work out the terms of a contract.

Shipping that utilizes bill of lading is carried out on the basis of the contract, which is called the bill of lading. This type of transportation is governed by international legal sources. The norms of international conventions and agreements, the effect of which extends to transportation under a bill of lading, are mainly mandatory. Therefore, the parties must strictly comply with their requirements.

In addition to these two main forms of transportation of international shipping, there are also some other types of contracts, such as time charter and bareboat charter. These are agreements on the provision of a vessel with a crew or without a crew for a certain time for the carriage of goods, passengers, and for other purposes of merchant shipping.