Shoes

Yes, really. Shoes – or rather pairs of shoes – are completely illegal to import into South Africa, Mexico or India. In an effort to regain control over shoe production and distribution within their own countries, these three locations have enforced a strange law that no resident can import matching shoes into the country. Single shoes, however, are completely fine to send.

Kinder Eggs

Unless you live in America, it’s likely that you’ve enjoyed the pure heavenly taste of a Kinder Egg. These eggs are made of incredibly creamy milk and white chocolate, and come with the added bonus of cute little toys inside. Oh, and they are officially under a federal ban in the United States due to the fact that they are deemed a choking hazard. These fun treats could cost you around $2,500 per egg in fines if you try and import them, and you won’t even get the chance to taste it before they’re confiscated and probably destroyed. In short – it’s just not worth it.

Dental Products

If you’re planning on sending dental products to Algeria, you might want to think again. Due to the overwhelming unpopularity of fluoride within the country, they have deemed it poisonous and harmful in some areas. All dental products have been banned in the country for this exact reason, so you won’t be finding any Colgate here!

Pufferfish

You may think that the Japanese pufferfish is adorable and a little funny to watch, but the European Union certainly doesn’t think so. In fact, due to the poisonous nature of its organs, this is completely banned in any EU countries. The US hasn’t banned it, but it does require licenced chefs if you’re planning on cooking it. Do your research if you, for any reason, need to send a pufferfish overseas!

Car Horns

Saudi Arabia aren’t best known for their liberal thinking. In fact, you’ll find countless things banned here including music in shopping centres, and birthday cards that play music – are you seeing the pattern? Car horns are particularly noisy, and it appears that Saudi Arabia aren’t fans of anything particularly noisy. All noisy or loud goods are banned here, so you might want to rethink sending that car horn!

While some customs rules and regulations may seem ridiculous, every country has their rules for a reason. Whether it’s struggling markets they want to keep control of, or banning poisonous fish for safety purposes, the reasons are there and so it’s important to pay attention to each country’s rules and ensure we adhere to them.

If you’re looking to ship your goods overseas, why not get a quote from us today, or get in touch if you’d like more information?

The post The Strangest Shipping Restrictions Around The World appeared first on Logistics Consult.

MV Tricolor

On 14^th December 2002, the MV Tricolor was on a journey from Zeebrugge in Belgium, to Southampton in the UK. Carrying nearly 3,000 vehicles, the ship collided with Kariba, a container ship that was able to continue on after the crash. The MV Tricolor, however, wasn’t so lucky and sunk in the spot where she was struck. But the disaster didn’t end there. The sinking had led to the vessel not only being submerged in the water, but being lodged on her side and caused another two collisions due to it’s position in the English Channel. A popular shipping route, bollards and guards were put out to ensure safety, but there were another two collisions before the MV Tricolor was salvaged in 2003-4.

SS Mont Blanc

The French Freighter SS Mont Blanc was carrying ammunition while in Halifax Harbour on December 6^th 1917. When the ship then collided with the Norwegian ship the SS Imo, the freight exploded, causing the Halifax Explosion, killing around 2000 people in and around the city in Canada. A fire had started on the ship after the collision, detonating the cargo. The explosion that followed 20 minutes later was so massive that it devastated not only the harbour, but the city too.

MV Panagiotis

There is little doubt that the Navagio beach – also known as Shipwreck Beach – is perhaps the most photographed and well-known beaches in Greece. This secluded beach became known as Shipwreck Beach for one simple reason. In October 1980, the MV Panagiotis washed up on its shore and has since been open to much speculation about its history and what the ship was carrying at the time of its running aground. The most common theory is that the ship was smuggling cigarettes, booze, and potentially even women when it simply ran out of fuel and was washed ashore.

MSC Napoli

While this wasn’t the most memorable sinking in and of itself, the memorable part about it is perhaps the fact that the MSC Napoli was broken in two by explosives in a bid to make it easier to pull out of the sea. The salvage attempt cost $100million after the cargo vessel was refloated and after attempts to break the badly damaged hull during a high tide failed, a 1000 metre exclusion zone was put around the vessel to allow for the explosions to take place.

The post Lost at Sea: Some of the worst shipping disasters in history appeared first on Logistics Consult.

In an industry that is slowly becoming that much more reliant on technology after being initially hesitant to become more automated, this attack came as a huge shock to the freight industry. What’s more obvious in events such as this is just how unprepared the industry is when it comes to dealing or having protocol in place to ensure the issue is solved quickly.

The attack was first noticed as servers across the continent of Europe and India were hit by ransomware. The global cyber-attack was supposedly put in place to have an effect on multiple businesses with Moller-Maersk being the largest organisation hit. The attack was so ferocious that it actually affected every single unit at the Maersk head office. This meant that almost every part of the business was affected including:

• Oil tankers
• Shipping containers
• Tug boat and port operations
• Gas and oil production
• Drilling services

As the world’s largest shipping company, Maersk handles a total of more than 600 vessels and this is part of the reason why they take up around 16% of the overall market share in this industry. It is believed that the ransomware infected computers and encrypted hard drives. The virus was more centrally focused on Ukraine with the worry being that its impact could be felt in other parts of the world should the correct precautions not be taken in the future.

The situation in Ukraine did in fact also prompt the freight giant to close offices in Los Angeles and New York which ultimately would have created further problems down the line in terms of processing shipments. The disruption to supply chains was significant enough to stifle operations in areas such as finance, energy and transportation which is significant when it comes to leaving a lasting and global footprint in terms of dealing with cyber hacking.

It is understood that what actually destructive wiper malware was covered up and presented in the form of ransomware which was created with the aim of destroying data in the event that the ransom was not received. The threat of losing irretrievable data is what the hackers used to attempt to have a damaging financial impact on the company.

Something that is being argued among experts is the fact that the situation may have been entirely avoidable had the freight forwarding company invested in a blockchain enabled platform as opposed to their existing EDI (or electronic data interchange) platform currently being used. Ultimately this situation has placed further emphasis on the fact that industrial organisations and companies should be working far more towards keeping their online systems safe and protected from the increasingly complex cyber hacking threats.

If you have any questions or concerns when it comes to arranging a freight forwarding service with us, we recommend that you get in touch with us for further advice.

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Routing

Regardless of the route you need to take to get your goods from A to B, be sure to choose the quickest route as this will require fewer transhipment ports and transit times. This is something that all customers of freight forwarders are likely to also prefer as it means that there is less time needed to be in transit and, while there may be slightly cheaper rates available, it’s better to get to its destination as opposed to simply bargaining in the hope you may get a cheaper rate.

Are All Charges Included?

It is imperative that the freight rate you receive from the carrier and the quote is always as clear and thorough as possible and covers all areas. It is also worthwhile to check that the charges in the quote are supplied to you in the same way as stated in the terms of contract, for example.

Shop Around

Something that both customers of freight forwarding companies and the freight forwarders themselves need to be aware of is that fact that ‘shopping around’ and ‘horse trading’ are not the same thing. Shopping around lets you get a feel for the current prices on the market and how competitive a freight forwarding company can be. Horse trading can have terrible consequences and could lend itself to trouble such as shipping lines going down, for example and your cargo going along for the rise also!

Transparency

Something that is always a good indicator is whether a freight forwarder is honest and transparent about the way they trade and calculate their fees. A half decent freight forwarder will be able to clearly state their full range of services and will be upfront about their charges. It’s important that no surprise fees crop up and those that do can be a huge warning sign!

Volume-Based Contract

For those looking to find the very best quote and compare from a wide range of sea freight shipment rates, it is worthwhile giving them the incentive of giving you a volume based contract. This involves them committing to a certain volume of cargo in a fixed period of time. This will then allow you to see which company will offer you the very best rate and scout out the rates among competing companies.

If you are looking for a reputable and highly affordable freight forwarding company to ship your goods, get in touch with us here at Logistics Consult.

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