Over the years, the sphere of industries has seen exponential growth with companies now churning out unimaginable quantities of goods on a regular basis. This has fuelled the need for an industry dedicated to creating a framework to effectively store, transport and distribute these materials according to industry needs. This has led to the logistics and supply chain management process becoming an integral part of any business operation.
Logistics operators use various medium to transport goods, each having their own pros and cons. In addition to conventional ones such as road and air freight, one medium that is slowly gaining in popularity is coastal freight.
Coastal freight or short sea shipping is being promoted in a big way by several industry experts, citing its numerous benefits. A few of these have been mentioned below
1.
Freeing up of other
modes of transport
Especially in countries such as India, there is an over dependence on conventional modes such as highways and railways for freight transport. And we lack the infrastructure to successfully accommodate the sheer volume of goods our industries require. Opting for coastal freight will unclog other modes and ensure that goods flow smoother.
2.
Economic benefits
Coastal shipping is 50% less expensive than road freight, and 30% less expensive than railways. The need to pay state taxes are also eliminated, resulting in much reduced costs of operations.
3.
Environmental benefits
Coastal freight uses up much less fuel than other modes of freight, with the resulting reduced emissions greatly limiting the carbon footprint of the entire logistics operation.