Sea freight delays are more common than most importers expect. Despite the best planning, many variables — often beyond your control — can disrupt your delivery schedule, inflate your costs, or even derail your business altogether.
If you’ve ever had a shipment stuck at a port, hit with demurrage fees, or delayed by customs, you know how fast things can go wrong.
Why Sea Freight Goes Sideways
From the moment your container leaves a factory in China, it encounters multiple choke points: port congestion, paperwork issues, customs exams, or even miscommunications. These are just some of the causes that create financial headaches, strained relationships, and eroded profit margins.
Even seasoned importers face setbacks. You can do everything right — and still face delays. Regulatory issues, holidays, or shared-container risks (when co-loaders cause problems) can all disrupt your supply chain.
12 Common Sea Freight Issues (And What They Mean)
- Custom Exams: Manifest Hold, Commercial Enforcement Hold, Statistical Validation Hold, CET Hold, PGA Hold — all can stall your shipment. Algorithms flag data inconsistencies or random inspections. Co-loaded cargo may delay your freight even if you’re not the problem.
- Damage: Poor handling or improper securing can lead to physical damage, resulting in claims, inspections, and delays.
- Demurrage: Fees charged by steamship lines when containers sit too long at port. Triggered by customs issues or late pickups.
- Per Diem: Daily fees for the late return of empty containers. The clock starts ticking once your container leaves the terminal.
- Detention: Truckers charge by the hour if unloading takes too long. Two hours is usually free. After that — the meter runs.
- Missing Documents: Lost Bills of Lading delay release and trigger extra fees.
- Customs Clearance Problems: Incomplete or incorrect paperwork attracts scrutiny. This often results in exams, delays, and surprise charges.
- Overweight / Unbalanced Cargo: Uneven or overweight containers may be rejected or require costly rework and re-packing.
- Strikes: Port, trucking, or rail strikes anywhere along the route can halt progress indefinitely.
- Penalties: Violating import rules (like missing the ISF filing) brings fines and can prompt future inspections.
- Holidays: Delays around national holidays, especially in China or the U.S., can stall everything. Post-holiday congestion makes it worse.
- Lost Containers: It happens. Containers get misrouted or buried at terminals, causing multi-day delays while ports investigate.
Why This Matters for New Importers
Understanding these pain points helps you avoid common pitfalls. Planning ahead, choosing strong logistics partners, and building in lead-time buffers are just a few ways to reduce your exposure.
Many importers also switch to express air when timelines are tight — sacrificing some cost for speed and reliability.
Pro Tip: Protect Your Factory Relationships
Your supplier network is an asset. Blind shipping ensures your customers never see who your suppliers are — and your suppliers never know who your customers are. Control that loop, and you control the relationship.
Blind shipping from China offers speed, confidentiality, and complete control over the supply chain. At ShipCustomerDirect.com, we specialize in this process — and have since 2008.
Final Thought
Sea freight can be a cost-effective shipping method — but the hidden risks are real. Customs exams, document errors, or even weather can grind your delivery schedule to a halt.
Work with a team that understands these variables and knows how to navigate around them.
Perry David | Founder
ShipCustomerDirect.com
📞 877-887-4472
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