Currently, what are called clippers on the market are generally Matson (Mason) Clippers; ZIM (Zim) Clippers; CMA (CMA) Clipper; WHL (Wan Hai) Clippers; EMC (Evergreen) Clippers Waiting is the main thing. General shipping is the daily route opened by the three major alliances, OA alliance, etc. that we often talk about. So,
What are the differences between clippers and regular ships?
First, in terms of carrying capacity.
The carrying capacity of express ships is generally 3000-4000TEU, and the ships are smaller and have fewer cabins.
The carrying capacity of ordinary ships is generally around 10,000 TEUs, or even more, which is 2-5 times that of fast ships. The ships are larger and have more cabins.
Second, routes and timeliness.
Clipper ships mainly sail directly from the departure port to the destination port, and the ports they stop at are much less than ordinary ships. Therefore, the route time of the fast ship is more advantageous than that of the regular ship. It can usually dock in about 11 days after sailing. The sailing time is stable, the voyage is stable, and the time to pick up the suitcase is stable. The overall timeliness is fast and controllable, but the routes opened will be less than ordinary ships.
Ordinary ships have a huge carrying capacity, and in order to increase the full load rate, they need to undergo multiple transshipments and stops during the route, resulting in slow logistics timeliness. Under normal circumstances when the port is not blocked, the time from sailing to picking up the container is approximately 14-27 days. In addition, due to congestion at the destination port, there are many uncontrollable factors for ordinary ships, and shipping schedules are often unstable. The overall timeliness is slow and uncontrollable, but there are many shipping schedules and many routes.
Third, in terms of unloading speed.
Due to different carrying volumes, the unloading speed to the destination port is also different. The speed of docking, unloading and picking up containers of express ships will be significantly faster than that of ordinary ships. Under normal circumstances, it only takes 1-2 days to unload the cargo by a fast ship, while it takes more than 3 days or even a week to unload the cargo by a regular ship.
Fourth, price.
Clippers take timeliness as their service advantage, so the price will naturally be higher, which is equivalent to 3-4 times that of ordinary ships. The sea freight for ordinary ships is relatively cheap, but you may face miscellaneous charges such as delayed containers and port delays.
Take the recently measured timeliness from shipping to picking up the container as an example:
- The delivery time for ZIM cabinets with or without frames is approximately 13-23 days;
- EXX’s delivery time is 13-18 days;
- The time limit for regular flights from Matson is 12 days;
- The time limit for Matson overtime routes is 13-15 days.
The container freight rate takes 40H as an example:
-
Matson: CLX route is 6372; CLX+ route is 4872.
-
ZIM: The freight rate in East China without a frame is about 1800; the freight rate with a frame is about 3700.
Prices in South China are relatively high. The freight without the frame is about 2,600, and the freight with the frame is about 4,300.
-
The price of ordinary shipping COSCO is about 1,400, and the average time from sailing to picking up the container is about 20 days. It is currently the most cost-effective option on the market.
Taken together, if you want to pursue timeliness, then Clippers is naturally the best choice. If you pursue economical freight rates and can accept a 20-25 day cycle in terms of timeliness, you can choose regular shipping.
What are the advantages of different shipping locations? ·
There are differences in the ports of call of different shipping companies' routes. The ports of call of fast ships are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, and Yantian; the ports of call of ordinary ships are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Ningbo, Yantian, Qingdao, Xiamen, etc. Different ports of call also create different cost advantages for sellers.
Taking Matson as an example, it mainly calls at the three ports of Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai, but does not call at Shenzhen. This is more convenient for sellers in East China and will have more advantages in terms of cost and price, while sellers in South China need to transport their goods by land to the above three ports before loading, and the logistics cost will be higher.
The main ports of call for ZIM are Ningbo, Xiamen and Yantian. This gives sellers in southern China an advantage. Therefore, sellers can choose the corresponding airline based on their shipping location.
In addition, different port areas have different industrial clusters, and export goods will also be differentiated. For example:
Shenzhen Yantian Port has advantages in exporting clothing, machine parts, leather products and electronic products.
The distance between Shanghai Port and Ningbo Port is relatively close, and there are many general goods. Among them, the export of general department store daily necessities, textiles, plastic products, etc. is more advantageous.
It is recommended that goods with dangerous goods go to the sea port, and goods with batteries are recommended to go to Shenzhen Yantian Port.
What is the reason for the different time periods? ·
If the same is a regular ship or the same is a fast ship, the delivery time will be different. The reason behind this is that regular ships and express ships have different routes, different departure ports, different stopping places on the way, more or less or direct sailing, which will ultimately affect the timeliness. Specific timeliness for different routes, examples are as follows:
Matson Clipper CLX direct flights to the United States:
Ningbo (CNNGB) 2 days - Shanghai (CNSHA) 12 days - Long Beach (USLGB) 13 days - Honolulu (USHNL) 7 days - Guam (GUGUM) 8 days - Ningbo (CNNGB).
Matson Clipper CLX + direct flights to the West Coast:
Ningbo (CNNGB) 2 days - Shanghai (CNSHA) 9 days - Long Beach (USLGB) 31 days - Ningbo (CNNGB).
EXX direct flights to the West Coast:
Yantian (CNYTN) 2 days - Ningbo (CNNGB) 2 days - Shanghai (CNSHA) 13 days - Los Angeles (USLAX) 4 days - Oakland (USOAK) 7 days - Honolulu (USHNL) 21 days - Yantian (CNYTN).
ZIM direct flights to the US West:
Ningbo (CNNGB) 2 days - Xiamen (CNXMN) 2 days - Yantian (CNYTN) 13 days - Los Angeles (USLAX) 18 days - Ningbo (CNNGB).
OA Alliance AAC2 direct flights to the West:
Qingdao (CNTAO) 1 day - Shanghai (CNSHA) 2 days - Ningbo (CNNGB) 14 days - Los Angeles (USLAX) 5 days - Oakland (USOAK) 23 days - Busan (KRPUS) 4 days - Qingdao (CNTAO).
AAC4 direct flights to the West Coast:
Ningbo (CNNGB) 1 day - Shanghai (CNSHA) 3 days - Busan (KRPUS) 12 days - Long Beach (USLGB) 17 days - Busan (KRPUS) 2 days - Ningbo (CNNGB).
AACI US West Direct Flights:
Shanghai (CNSHA) 2 days - Ningbo (CNNGB) 16 days - Long Beach (USLGB) 17 days - Shanghai (CNSHA).
In addition, on the same ship, the different order of ports of call will also lead to different final timeliness. For example:
-
The calling order of ZIM's departure port is Ningbo - Xiamen - Yantian. Then, the timeliness of Yantian Port is the best, because after loading the goods at Yantian Port, the ship goes directly to LA.
-
The calling order of Evergreen CPS route is Qingdao-Shanghai-Ningbo. After Ningbo Port, the ship goes directly to LB, so the timeliness of Ningbo Port is the best.
In the past two years, the Clippers market has been very hot. This year, the global economy is weak. Affected by factors such as inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, and rising energy costs, consumer demand has slowed down. Retail merchants and sellers have accumulated a large amount of inventory. The overall shipping market is in a state of oversupply, and the market is no longer as good as in the past two years. In 2017, freight rates continued to fall, which was a very big gap for many cross-border sellers and cross-border logistics service providers.
Broken down, the Clippers' market share is in a state of sharp shrinkage. For example, in East China, Matson canceled CCX's direct route to OAK in the middle of this year; due to insufficient cargo volume, ZIM Express routes in South China have also begun to increase calls to East China ports to receive goods. Unlike Clippers, general ships have become the main theme this year. Based on the ease of congestion at US ports, early customer sales plans, cheaper shipping costs and more suitable timeliness, general ships have greatly met market demand.
English 
Chinese