The ocean import timeline
An ocean import is a chain of deadlines. Miss the cargo cutoff and the container rolls to the next sailing. Miss the ISF and the cargo can be held. Miss the last free day and demurrage starts. Miss the empty return and detention starts. Here is the sequence from cargo ready to empty return, with what to watch at each step.
1. Cargo ready and booking
The supplier confirms a cargo ready date, and the importer or its forwarder requests space on a sailing. The carrier confirms the booking with a booking number, the vessel and voyage, the empty-container pickup location, and the cutoff times. In EDI terms that is a 300 request and a 301 confirmation, usually exchanged between the forwarder and the carrier.
2. Cutoffs and filings at origin
The loaded container has to be gated in at the export terminal by the cargo cutoff. Separate cutoffs apply to the shipping instructions that become the bill of lading and to the container’s verified gross mass. For cargo bound for the United States, the importer’s ISF is due at least 24 hours before the cargo is loaded at the foreign port, and the carrier files its manifest on the same 24-hour basis.
3. Departure and transit
The container is loaded and the vessel departs. Carrier milestone messages, the EDI 315, report the load, the departure, and any transshipment. Transit can change while the vessel is at sea: schedule changes, port congestion, or a rolled transshipment move the arrival date, and the planning dates for every PO in the container need to move with it.
4. Arrival and customs release
The vessel arrives and the container is discharged at the terminal. The customs broker files the entry, and the cargo needs both a customs release and a carrier release, which usually requires that freight charges are paid and the original bill of lading surrendered if one was issued. Holds and releases arrive as customs status messages. A container can be on the ground and still not be allowed to leave.
5. Last free day and pickup
Once the container is available, free time at the terminal starts counting down to the last free day. A drayage carrier needs a terminal appointment and a chassis to pick it up. After the last free day, demurrage accrues every day the container stays at the terminal. Containers going inland may move by rail or in-bond to another port instead.
6. Delivery, unloading, and empty return
The container is delivered to the warehouse or a transload facility, unloaded, and received against the POs it carried. Detention, or per diem, starts once the container’s free days outside the terminal run out, and it stops only when the empty is returned. Chassis charges run for the same time. Receiving shortages and damages need to be recorded at unload, on the delivery receipt, to support a claim.
Where Endless fits
Endless ties each container to the POs and SKUs inside it and tracks it from booking to the warehouse. EndlessEDI handles the ocean messages along the way, including the 301, 315, and 322, so arrival dates, customs status, and landed cost update on the same record planners use.
FAQ
How long does an ocean import take?
It depends on the lane and the port. Transit at sea is only part of it: booking, cutoffs, customs release, terminal availability, and drayage can each add days. Plan from the cargo ready date to the warehouse, not from the sailing.
When is the ISF due?
For ocean cargo bound for the United States, the importer’s ISF is due at least 24 hours before the cargo is loaded on the vessel at the foreign port.
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is charged while the container stays at the terminal past its last free day. Detention is charged while the container is out of the terminal past its free days and the empty has not been returned.
