Export container shipping generally contains nine steps: booking, acceptance

of shipping order, dispatch/picking-up of empty containers, stuffing, haulage of

loaded container to port, customs declaration and inspection, loading, departure,

and exchange for a bill of lading (B/L).

(1)Booking The shipper is required to complete a Container Booking Note some

time before the shipment in accordance with the terms of the sales contract or

letter of credit to book capacity through a freight forwarder or with a liner directly.

In general, a liner opens its booking portal about one month before sailing,

allowing shippers with long-term agreements to book capacity and confirm

freight rate directly or through a freight forwarder; shippers without long-term

agreements can also book capacity but cannot confirm the freight rate until

several days before the sailing.

(2)Acceptance of shipping order. The liner or its agent decides whether to

fulfill the shipping order based on its capacity, route, and other factors and the

shipper’s needs. If the order is accepted, the liner will prepare a booking list and

send it to a Container Yard (CY) or Container Freight Station (CFS). The CY or

CFS will accordingly arrange empty containers and perform transfer procedure.

The liner will also send an equipment interchange receipt (EIR) to the shipper or

its agent to close the booking process.

(3)Dispatch/picking-up of empty containers. In Full-Container Load (FCL)

shipping, empty containers are usually picked up by the shipper or its agent at

the CY with an EIR, although some shippers also use their own containers. In

Less-Than-Container Load (LCL) shipping, empty containers are picked up by

the CFS with an EIR. The shipment needs become reasonably certain once the

shipper picks up the empty containers.

(4)Stuffing. Under FCL, the shipper is responsible for loading goods into

containers at its warehouse or factory. Under LCL, the shipper or its agent will

deliver the goods that will not take up the entire space of a container to the CFS

for consolidation.

After consolidation, the consolidator will complete a Container Load Plan, which

specifies the name, quantity, and stuffing of the goods in the container and

serves as the only document recording the particulars of the goods.

(5)Haulage of loaded container to port. The shipper, its agent, or the CFS

delivers the loaded containers to the CY before its closing. The CY will verify the

Dock Receipt and Container Load Plan against the booking list and inspect the

goods. Upon acceptance of the goods, the CY will sign the Dock Receipt and

return the signed original to the shipper or its agent. Under LCL, the CFS will

sign the Dock Receipt when the shipper or its agent delivers the goods to the

CFS and return the signed original.

(6)Customs declaration and inspection. Before loading and shipment, the

shipper or its agent needs to present the Dock Receipt, export license, and

commodity inspection certificate to the customs and the inspection and

quarantine authority. The dock receipt will be stamped with the clearance seal

once the shipment is cleared.

(7)Loading. The container terminal prepares a stowage plan according to the

cargo to be loaded and then moves the containers to the marshaling yard for

loading once the ship is berthed. If the cargo exceeds the capacity of the ship

on duty, the liner will shut out excess goods based on shippers’ needs, which

will be loaded onto subsequent ships.

(8)Departure. The ship is loaded with the cargo and will leave the port by the

liner’s sailing schedule to the destination port.

(9)Exchanging for a B/L. The liner will make a B/L for the loaded cargo after the

container ship leaves the port for two to three days. A B/L can be a shippedon-board one or a received-for-shipment one. The former is issued after the

cargo is loaded; the latter is issued before the cargo is loaded, and therefore

can only prove the transfer of cargo from the shipper to the carrier, but not the

loading time. After being stamped with the word “loaded” and the loading time, a

received-for-shipment B/L will become a shipped-on-board B/L.

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