Horizon Blog

Avoiding Red Sea Disruptions With Sea+Air Services

Written by Karl Francisco | Feb 20, 2024 3:45:00 PM

Expeditors combines multiple modes of transportation seamlessly to offer a cost-saving alternative to airfreight shipments through our Sea+Air and Air+Sea services. As disruptions in the Red Sea continue, and Asia-Europe shipments experience longer transit times due to the rerouting of ocean carrier services around Africa, Sea+Air is becoming an increasingly valuable option for businesses seeking to avoid the ripple effects caused by the Red Sea disruptions.

Ripple Effects
Cargo rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa, is delayed by 7 to 15 days (in one direction), depending on the shipment’s final destination. Schedule changes could have several vessels hitting North European, North American, and Asian ports simultaneously, leading to port and infrastructure congestion. Further delays in vessels returning to origin may affect available capacity and lead to increased costs.

Sea+Air Solutions
Our Sea+Air services out of Asia via Dubai and/or via Los Angeles offer a reliable, cost-effective alternative to mitigate the Red Sea disruptions, with a single per-kilogram rate covering all transportation and transshipment costs from the seaport of origin up to the airport of arrival. Customers receive clear and direct transportation costs with no hidden fees, achieve cost savings compared to standard airfreight, and faster transit times than with standard ocean shipments.

Sea+Air and Air+Sea Service Attributes

  • Reduced supply chain costs compared to a full airfreight transportation solution.
  • An optimal combination of speed and cost, with the benefit of combining economical ocean transport with high-speed air transport.
  • Effective routes and greater coverage, offering traditional trade lanes and non-standard routings.
  • A simplified process similar to any air export or gateway shipment moving on an end-to-end shipping documentation, with a single transportation document House Air Waybill (HAWB).
  • A single per-kilogram rate covering all transportation and combining all transshipment costs from the seaport of origin up to the airport of arrival if Sea +Air, or from the airport of origin up to the seaport if Air+Sea.
  • End-to-end real-time visibility on all Sea+Air and Air+Sea shipments is provided through EXP.O NOW, Expeditors’ digital platform, to provide global shipment tracking and reporting.
  • Carrier selection guarantees that Expeditors only uses reliable airlines with pre-existing allocations to ensure and plan capacity to/from strategic transshipment gateways more efficiently. We do not use any agents or co-loaders, and the specialized air and ocean carriers we use put our cargo on priority.