Parties involved in an international move

The different parties involved in an international ocean freight move

As with all international shipments, an international maritime move involves many different parties. Knowing the responsibilities of each of them can help prevent problems.

Shipper: The person who’s sending the shipment. In this case, the person who’s moving from one country to another.

Consignee: The person who receives the shipment. In an international move, the consignee has to be the same person as the shipper. The shipper must be present at destination to be able to collect the shipment.

Notify party: The person who’s notified in the event of an incident during shipping. This can be the same person as the shipper or different. At iContainers, we advise you to list your destination agent as your notify party.

Consolidator: When you don’t have enough household goods to fill a container in an international move, you may ship your belongings in a shared container, also known as LCL shipping, or groupage.

In this case, the consolidator is in charge of the shipment and is responsible for grouping various goods into one container.

Shipping company: The containers in which your household goods will travel in will go on board a shipping vessel that belongs to a shipping company. Once your household goods have been loaded into a container, it will be loaded onto the vessel, where it’s weighed and sits ready for its ocean freight journey.

Agent: The shipping agents are the link between the destination port and the shipper, or in this case, the person who is moving. An agent’s main responsibility is to handle customs clearance at destination.

Freight forwarder: The freight forwarder acts as an intermediary between all the above-mentioned parties, providing contact information and ensuring that the overall shipment proceeds smoothly.

The freight forwarder is responsible for coordinating the pick up, preparing the necessary documents, negotiating shipping rates with the shipping company, and putting everyone involved with the process in contact with each other. iContainers is a freight forwarder and we will organize and handle all aspects of your international move (paperwork, customs, pick up, etc) with the various parties involved.