Comparative assessment of the cost of international transportation of cargo in containers

Aim: to choose the optimal solution for the transportation of goods in containers, depending on the results of a comparative assessment of the cost of shipping containers for import/export by a leased vessel on a time charter or through a third-party organization. Materials and methods: features of the regulation of freight forwarding activities, taking into account national and international legal norms by analyzing and sampling data; methodological approaches to estimating the cost of transporting cargo in containers; methods of comparative assessment of economic effects according to the «cost-benefit» scheme. Results: the time spent on key container shipping routes in international traffic was determined; the cost of international cargo transportation by a third-party organization using its own and attracted containers was determined, taking into account the delivery time; the decision to carry out international container transportation by a leased vessel on time charter terms was justified; the economic effect of cargo transportation in a container by a leased vessel was determined on the terms of a time charter in comparison with shipping through a third-party organization. Conclusion: the proposed solution will allow estimating the cost of international shipping in containers in order to select the most optimal option, which will have a direct impact on the tariff structure for transportation and ensure the growth of the revenue component of the forwarding company.