Transshipment: Frequently Asked Questions

With over 90% of goods shipped by sea, transshipment is fundamental to connecting a vast network of over 4,000 ports and more than 100,000 cargo vessels.

Its importance is magnified by rising geopolitical tensions, where it can be used to facilitate trade subject to export controls and embargoes, requiring careful monitoring. Furthermore, as global supply chains face ongoing threats of disruption and congestion, transshipment provides a key strategy for optimizing routes, consolidating shipments, and ensuring goods can reach their destination.

Transshipment is the general term for moving cargo between vehicles during a voyage.

Re-export is a specific type of transshipment where goods are imported into a country not for domestic use but to be immediately exported again.

Ship-to-ship (STS), or lightering, is a specific method where this transfer occurs directly between two vessels alongside each other at sea or in port. This applies in situations involving cargo, bunkering and supply type operations.

The primary benefits include optimizing costs and transit times, consolidating different types of shipments, enabling goods to reach locations without direct service, and mitigating the impact of port congestion or other supply chain disruptions.

In addition to its logistical functions, transshipment can be used to facilitate trade that is subject to export controls, dual-use regulations, or embargoes. This makes monitoring transshipment hubs and activities a critical component of trade compliance and security.

A transshipment voyage can be very complex. For instance, a container traveling from Jordan to Brazil could involve a journey of nearly a month and a half, utilizing multiple vessels, and passing through hubs in Morocco, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Virtually any material good or commodity can be transshipped. This includes containerized goods, liquid bulk (e.g., oil), dry bulk (e.g., grain), and vehicles on roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels.

• Core Function: Transshipment involves moving cargo between vehicles (e.g., ship to ship) during its voyage to optimize supply chains. It is also referred to as re-export, ship-to-ship (STS), or lightering.
• Economic Benefits: The process is used to reduce costs, optimize transit times, consolidate shipments of varying sizes, and enable goods to reach ports that lack direct shipping connections.
• Strategic Importance: It serves as a vital tool for mitigating potential disruptions and port congestion. Amid rising geopolitical tensions, it is also used to facilitate trade subject to export controls, dual-use regulations, and embargoes.
• Broad Applicability: Transshipment applies to nearly all material goods, including boxed goods on containerships, liquid bulk like oil, dry bulk like grain, and vehicles on roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels.
• Data-Driven Monitoring: S&P Global Market Intelligence provides comprehensive data solutions—including Vessel Tracking, Container Tracking, Bill of Lading data, and Statistical Trade data—to monitor and analyze transshipment activities globally.