Sea freight
Sea freight carries the majority of international trade by volume. It is the most economical option for large or heavy consignments, with a transit time measured in weeks rather than days, and with a choice between full containers and shared space.
TCSA reviews your enquiry and helps identify suitable member providers. The appointed provider confirms the scope and quotation.
What this covers
Importers and exporters moving full container loads, businesses shipping bulky or heavy goods where air cost is prohibitive, and organisations planning stock purchases around a predictable sailing schedule.
FCL and LCL options
Full container load against less-than-container load, with the cost crossover explained for your volume.
Port-to-port and door-to-door
Whether the movement ends at the port or continues inland, and who handles each leg.
Container planning
Container type and stowage planning, including out-of-gauge or special-equipment requirements.
Terminal and documentation
Terminal handling, bill of lading arrangements and release procedures.
Who performs the work: A member forwarder or NVOCC. TCSA reviews the requirement, confirms the sailing options and makes the introduction.
Limits: Maritime transit times are set by the carrier and the sailing schedule. Delays from port congestion, weather or blanked sailings are outside anyone's control and are not guaranteed against.
How membership and accreditation differInformation to have ready
None of this is required to send an enquiry. It helps us confirm the appropriate route and the scope faster.
- Port of loading and port of discharge
- Cargo volume, weight and packing
- Container type required, if known
- Whether a full container or shared space is preferred
- Required arrival window
- Whether the goods need temperature control
What happens next
The same four steps apply whatever the service. Timings are agreed with you rather than promised up front.
- 01
Requirement
You provide the volume, packing and ports involved.
- 02
Options
Sailing options are set out with transit times, routing and the cost difference between FCL and LCL.
- 03
Booking
Space is booked and the bill of lading arrangements are confirmed.
- 04
Movement
The container is tracked through the ports, with exceptions raised as they occur.
What affects the price
Sea freight is quoted per container or per cubic metre, plus origin and destination charges that are often the larger part of the total. Port charges, terminal handling and inland legs are itemised separately.
Submitting the enquiry is free. The service itself is quoted before any work begins.
The provider who delivers the work sets its own rates. TCSA does not set them.
Where this is available
Confirmed for the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, subject to sailing availability from the ports involved.
Availability on a specific lane, site or regime is confirmed during review.
Who handles the work
Member forwarders are matched on sailing coverage from the ports involved, experience with the commodity and inland delivery capability at the destination.
Membership of TCSA is not a statutory licence, and neither membership nor accreditation guarantees the performance of any provider. Scope and charges are agreed with you before work begins.
Questions about this service
Related services
Freight forwarding
A freight forwarder arranges the movement of goods across borders — booking space, preparing transport and customs documentation, and coordinating the parties involved. This page covers forwarding as a whole; the transport-mode pages cover air, sea and road in detail.
Air freight
Air freight moves goods quickly at a cost that is charged mainly by chargeable weight — the greater of actual and volumetric weight. It suits time-critical shipments, high-value goods and cargo that cannot travel by sea.
Warehousing and third-party logistics
Third-party logistics covers storage, pick and pack, and the fulfilment activity around it. It is the commercial counterpart to a customs warehouse: this page covers storage and fulfilment generally, while customs warehousing covers duty-suspended storage specifically.
The process
How an enquiry works
Find customs, freight and trade services through TCSA. Tell us what you need and we will review your enquiry, connect you with suitable member providers, or confirm whether TCSA can deliver the service directly. Submitting an enquiry does not book work or accept a quotation, and does not guarantee that a provider is available.
- 01
Choose a service and tell us what you need
Pick the service that fits and describe the requirement. It takes a couple of minutes.
- 02
TCSA reviews the requirement
We confirm the appropriate next step: a member provider, a TCSA-delivered service, or a managed sourcing process.
- 03
The agreed route responds
Suitable member providers or the TCSA team respond according to the route you agreed to.
- 04
You decide whether to proceed
Review the scope, the provider and the pricing before committing to anything.
Membership
What members get on services
You do not need to be a member to enquire. Membership changes the rate you pay and the way opportunities are routed to you as a provider.
For buyers
- Preferential rates on eligible services, confirmed with your quotation.
- Eligibility checked against your membership record, not a self-declaration.
- One enquiry route covering customs, freight, compliance and inspections.
For member providers
- Enquiries matched to your stated services, countries and language capability.
- Only enquiries you are assigned to are visible to you, in the Member Portal.
- Your details are shared only where the customer has permitted it.
Buying a service has no bearing on accreditation. Accreditation is assessed separately against published criteria.