Cost: The sea freight rates have been determined by a variety of factors that include the type of container required, whether FCL or LCL; the volume of cargo, port charges, and other supplementary services needed, including insurance and warehousing. This means that compared to air freight, sea freight will be cheaper, especially for heavy cargo shipments.
Transit Time: Sea freight from China to Portugal normally takes about 25 to 40 days, depending on the different ports of loading and discharge, shipping route, and probable delay caused during sea and customs clearance.
Steps to Get a Quote:
Get in Touch with Service Providers: Among the logistics companies are Topshipping, Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC, and COSCO Shipping.
Provide details about the shipment: discuss the specific shipment, including the exact origin and destination addresses, commodity type, weight, dimension, and any preferred shipping dates.
Perform a side-by-side comparison of the quotes from each forwarder on price, transit time, the services included, and customer reviews.
Example of Ports:
Departure Ports in China: Shanghai, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Guangzhou, and Qingdao.
Arrival Ports in Portugal: Lisbon, Porto (Leixões), and Sines.
Further Tips:
Insurance: Highly consider taking marine insurance to cover your cargo against potential risks during transportation. Tracking: This can be made possible where the service provider provides options to enable the monitoring of the shipment’s progress.