As a fully registered NVOCC company, TRT International provides itself as the only company that has clearly modelled and redefined the provision of shipping and logistics services to offer the most reliable and efficient services to its customers by incorporating the elements of time, cost, and speed.
So, let's take a closer look at the concept of NVOCC itself.
NVOCC stands for Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier is someone who undertakes to perform all the services of a VOCC but without owning or operating vessels, as the name implies.
VOCC stands for Vessel Operating Common Carrier – also known variously as Ocean Carrier, Shipping line.
Registrations and rules governing NVOCC
The US market is probably having the largest number of NVOCC operators in the world, and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which regulates their operations in the US, has some strict rules that must be followed.
FMC defines Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier as:
- a common carrier that holds itself out to the public to provide ocean transportation, issues its own house bill of lading or equivalent document, and does not operate the vessels by which ocean transportation is provided
- shipper in its relationship with the vessel-operating common carrier involved in the movement of cargo
The Role of NVOCC
NVOCC is often referred to as "carrier to shippers" and "shipper to carriers" .
What does this mean?
At its most basic level, NVOCC enters into volume agreements with different shipping lines operating on different trade lanes.
This means that NVOCC buys space from an ocean carrier in bulk (as a wholesaler) and sells that space to various shippers or freight forwarders (as a retailer) on the same ship/route.