Container shipping
company in Dubai.

FCL means Full Container Load. You book an entire container and pay a flat rate for the box regardless of how full it is. The container is sealed at origin and normally not opened until it reaches the consignee, which means fewer handling points and less risk to the cargo.

LCL means Less than Container Load. Your cargo shares a container with other shippers and you pay for the volume you occupy, measured in cubic metres. The container is consolidated at origin and deconsolidated at destination, which adds handling and time but avoids paying for empty space.

As a working rule the crossover sits around 15 cbm, but it moves with the lane, the season and the commodity. We price both options on your actual shipment so you can see the real break-even rather than relying on the rule of thumb.

A 20ft container offers roughly 28 cbm of usable space, though the practical figure depends on how the cargo stacks and whether it is palletised. Weight limits usually bite before volume does on dense cargo such as tiles, stone or machinery.

A 40ft container offers roughly 58 cbm of usable space, and a 40ft high-cube around 66 cbm because of the extra height. For light, bulky cargo the high-cube is normally the better value; for dense cargo the payload limit matters more than the volume.

A high-cube is a container with about one extra foot of internal height compared with a standard box, most commonly in the 40ft size. It suits light bulky cargo where you run out of volume before you run out of payload. Some destinations have road height restrictions that affect inland delivery of high-cubes.

A reefer is a refrigerated container with its own powered cooling unit, used for cargo that must hold a temperature range, such as foodstuff, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and some cosmetics. Reefer slots are more limited than dry slots, so bookings need more lead time.

An open-top container has a removable roof for cargo that must be craned in or exceeds door height. A flat-rack has no sides or roof, for cargo that is over-width or over-height and has to be lashed onto the platform. Both are priced above standard equipment and need more lead time.

LCL cargo shares a container with other shippers, so packing matters more than it does in FCL. Cargo should be palletised where possible, shrink wrapped, and labelled on more than one face. We can inspect and photograph the cargo before it is consolidated so its condition at handover is documented.

Cubic metres are length × width × height in metres, per piece, then totalled across the shipment. Use the outer packaging dimensions including the pallet, not the product dimensions, because that is the space the cargo actually occupies. Round up rather than down.

Usually yes, provided the goods are compatible and permitted for the destination. Dangerous goods have segregation rules that restrict what may travel together, and foodstuff should not share a box with cargo that could contaminate it. Send the commodity list and we will confirm.

A seal is a uniquely numbered lock fitted after the container is stuffed. The number is recorded on the bill of lading and checked at destination, so an intact matching seal is evidence the container was not opened in transit. A broken or mismatched seal triggers inspection and a claim record.

For FCL, either you load at your premises or we stuff it at our facility. Warehouse stuffing suits shipments arriving from several suppliers, and lets us tally and photograph the cargo as it goes in. For LCL we always stuff, since the box is shared.

Cross stuffing means transferring cargo from one container into another, normally to consolidate several part loads into a single box, re-sort cargo by destination, or move goods into equipment that meets the destination requirements. We offer it as a standalone service from our Dubai facilities.

A container price is built from ocean freight, terminal handling at both ends, the bill of lading and documentation fee, export clearance, and any carrier surcharge in force on the lane. What moves it most is the destination, the equipment type, the commodity and the season, not the size of your company. We quote the whole figure rather than the ocean line alone, so the invoice matches the quote.

Yes. That means collection from your address in the UAE, export clearance, the ocean leg, import clearance at destination and delivery to the final address. It is worth agreeing exactly where responsibility transfers before booking, because door to door means different things to different providers and the incoterm is what settles it.

Because LCL carries handling a full container does not. Your cargo is consolidated into a shared box at origin and deconsolidated at destination, which is two extra operations, two extra sets of paperwork and two extra points where cargo is handled. You are paying for that work as well as the space, which is exactly why a full container becomes cheaper per unit once you have enough volume to fill one.

A container freight station, or CFS, is the shed where LCL cargo is consolidated into containers and taken back out again at the far end. It is where your goods sit before loading and after discharge, and any charge described as origin or destination handling on an LCL quote is usually the work done there. FCL skips it entirely, which is part of why FCL moves faster.

Standard dry equipment on a well served lane needs less notice than special equipment, which has to be positioned and is not always available locally. Reefer, open top and flat rack should be requested as early as you can, and peak periods before major holidays tighten space on every lane. Tell us the ready date at enquiry rather than at booking and we will say whether it is realistic.