Travel

Once loaded at the port-of-origin, the ship will travel to the destination port. The trip duration depends on various conditions and may last from days to weeks. About 5 days before arrival at the port, the customs broker will file the required customs paperwork to ensure all containers are ready for receipt. For customs purposes, the port terminal is considered international territory and thus a container on the terminal has not formally entered the country. As a result, even containers that have been put on hold will be offloaded to the port, but will be placed in a special hold area for further inspection. Such containers will remain in the terminal until the y have been cleared by appropriate authority.