Dubai sits next to Jebel Ali, the largest port in the Middle East, which makes it a natural origin and transhipment hub for ocean freight across six continents. Delman has handled sea freight from Dubai since 2010 — FCL, LCL and reefer — booking the space, raising the documentation and clearing customs end to end.

What's included

FCL (Full Container Load) — a container that's yours alone (20ft, 40ft or 40ft high-cube). The more you fill it, the lower your cost per unit, so it's the economical choice once you have the volume.
LCL (Less than Container Load) — your cargo consolidated with other shipments in a shared container, so you only pay for the space you use instead of waiting to fill a whole box.
Reefer — refrigerated containers for chilled or frozen cargo that has to hold temperature from origin to destination.
Special equipment — open-top, flat-rack, platform and reefer containers for cargo that will not fit or load through a standard box.
Break bulk & project cargo — non-containerised and oversized consignments moved worldwide (see project cargo & heavy lift).

Sea freight from Dubai: an overview

Sea freight is the cost and capacity workhorse. It wins whenever cargo fills volume rather than value — furniture, building materials, machinery, raw materials and large retail replenishment — when demand is predictable enough to plan weeks ahead, or when carbon matters, since ocean emits a fraction of the CO₂ per tonne-kilometre of air. It's also the only realistic option for oversized and heavy units that can't fly (see project cargo & heavy lift).

How a sea shipment is priced depends on whether you take a whole container or share one:

How ocean freight is priced

FCL is priced per container (20ft / 40ft / 40ft high-cube) — fill it and your unit cost drops.
LCL is priced on the revenue ton (W/M): the greater of one tonne or one cubic metre. At sea, 1 CBM is treated as roughly 1,000 kg, so bulky-but-light cargo behaves very differently here than in the air.

Ocean schedules move with port congestion, blank sailings and routing changes, so we confirm a live schedule before you commit. Whether sea is the right call against air comes down to landed cost versus lead time — our air freight vs sea freight guide works through that decision (including indicative transit times by region), and for time-critical cargo see air freight from Dubai.

How we handle your sea shipment

Every ocean booking runs through the same controlled sequence:

Quote & booking — send the cargo, origin, destination and ready date; we recommend FCL, LCL or reefer, confirm the rate basis and book the space.
Documentation — we raise the Bill of Lading (B/L) and check the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and any permits the goods or destination require.
Dangerous goods, where they apply — hazardous cargo is classified, declared, packed and segregated under the IMDG Code. See dangerous goods shipping.
Customs clearance — export clearance in Dubai and, where we run the destination, import and free-zone clearance — including JAFZA — handled in-house.
Haulage & delivery — port handling, container haulage and onward door delivery, with status from booking through to arrival.

Why ship sea freight with Delman

Dubai specialists since 2010 — air, sea and land freight across six continents from our Al Garhoud base, with people who own mode selection and the whole journey, not just the booking.
FCL, LCL and reefer on one desk — including LCL consolidation, so you don't have to fill a whole container to ship economically.
In-house customs & JAFZA clearance — export, import and free-zone clearance handled by our own team, so cargo isn't left waiting on a third party.
Live schedules, not stale rates — we confirm sailing schedules before you commit, given how much ocean timing can move.

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