What is Lighterage?
Lighterage (also called lightering) is used in e-commerce and logistics to consolidate freight shipments into smaller loads and transport them by lighter or smaller vessels. This practice allows for more efficient transport of goods and helps reduce fuel, crew, and vessel costs. It is beneficial for international shipments, as it enables goods to be transported to areas where larger vessels cannot go.
Significance of Lighterage in E-commerce and Logistics
Lighterage lowers the risk of accidents and damages to goods loaded onto large vessels.
. Find out its functions here.
- Lightering increases the speed of delivery by reducing the time spent in long queues waiting to be loaded onto a large vessel.
- It helps reduce the pollution caused by larger vessels as they require less fuel to reach their destination.
- It contracts the reliance on large vessels, allowing for more efficient and cost-effective distribution of goods.
Prerequisites of Lighterage and How it Works
For lighterage to work efficiently, these prerequisites are assembled:
1. Availability of a suitable vessel for the lighterage process.
2. The lighterage vessel should be able to travel between two separate locations.
3. The lighterage vessel must navigate through shallow waters.
Once the fulfilling requirements are taken care of, the process is held in these ways-
- The lighterage vessel is loaded with cargo at the origin port.
- The vessel navigates through shallow waters to the destination port.
- The cargo is unloaded at the destination port.
- This process is repeated until all cargo is delivered.
Use Cases of Lighterage
When a company needs to move goods from one port to another, they may use lighterage to transport them. It is a faster option than a large vessel, as the smaller vessels can be easily maneuvered in shallow waters and reach otherwise inaccessible ports.
