Trade Lanes

WSSA considers transit time, price and reliability when routing your cargo.

Shipping routes reflect world trade flows. Sailings are most numerous and most frequent on routes where trade volumes are largest and demand is therefore greatest.

In liner trades to and from the U.S., the busiest routes are to the Far East (especially China and Japan), passing through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Malacca Straits. The North Atlantic route, linking Western Europe and the USA and Canada, is also busy, and there are well-established routes to the Middle East, India, Australia and New Zealand, Central and South America, as well as to East and West Africa.

There are direct liner services from the U.S. to most other countries, and certainly to all the main trading economies. However, if your cargo is destined for a smaller port in one of these countries or for a port in a country with little trade with the U.S., there may not be a direct sailing available - in which case, your cargo will need to be trans-shipped to another local sailing at the end of the ocean voyage.

There will usually be a range of routes by which your cargo can reach its destination. WSSA explores all the options available to find the one that best suits your needs in terms of price, speed, safety and contractual stipulations.

North Europe: U.K., Ireland, N. France, Germany, Scandinavia
Mediterranean: S. Spain, S. France, Italy, Greece
South America: Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay
New World: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand
Iberia: Spain, Portugal