Actions Logistics

Quick test. Your container — USD 80,000 of cargo — falls off a ship mid-Pacific.

**How much does the carrier owe you?**

Answer: about **USD 1,000.**

Yes, really. Under the Hague-Visby Rules (which most ocean carriers operate under), the carrier's liability is capped at **666.67 SDRs per package, or 2 SDRs per kilo, whichever is higher**. SDR is roughly USD 1.35 right now. For most cargo, that math comes out to around USD 900–1,200 per package — regardless of what's inside.

That's the gap marine insurance fills. And almost no SME shipper realises how big it is.

**A few other things most shippers get wrong about cargo cover:**

→ "The carrier will cover it." They won't. See above.
→ "Insurance is built into the freight rate." Almost never. Only CIF and CIP include marine cover by default — and even then, the coverage is usually the bare minimum (Institute Cargo Clauses C).
→ "It's expensive." Not really. Typical premium runs **around 0.5% of cargo value.** On a USD 80K shipment: USD 400. Less than your freight rate.

**When marine insurance is on YOU to arrange:**

✓ EXW — buying or selling
✓ FCA — buyer arranges
✓ FOB — buyer arranges
✓ CFR — buyer arranges (cost is seller's, risk is yours from loading)

**When it's already included** (sort of):

→ CIF / CIP — but the seller usually buys minimum cover (Clauses C). For high-value cargo, top up with your own Clauses A policy.

For context: roughly **1,300+ shipping containers** are lost at sea every year (industry estimates). It's not a question of *if* something will happen across enough shipments — it's *which* shipment.

If you're shipping under any of the Incoterms above and don't have your own marine cover, send us a recent shipment invoice. We'll calculate your **real exposure** — what the carrier would actually owe you vs what your cargo is worth — for free. Most clients are surprised by the gap.

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Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha.

Today is a day of sacrifice, of sharing, of returning to what matters most — family, faith, and the people we hold dear.

To our partners, our clients, and the team at Actions Logistics — may this Aidiladha bring you peace, gratitude, and blessings in abundance. May the spirit of the day inspire kindness in our homes and generosity in our communities.

From all of us at Actions Logistics — Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha. 🇲🇾

— The Actions Logistics team

Cargo damage almost never starts in transit. It starts in packaging.

A loose strap, a wrong wood thickness, a missing corner protector — and the same shipment that left your factory in perfect condition arrives broken.

**Actions Logistics — Packaging & Crating:**

→ **ISPM-15 compliant wood crates** — heat-treated, marked, internationally accepted. Your cargo passes phytosanitary inspection at any port without holdups.
→ **Custom design for fragile, heavy, or oversized cargo** — we don't just put it in a box. Industrial machinery, automotive parts, electronics, and project equipment each need different bracing, cushioning, and load distribution.
→ **On-site or warehouse-based crating** — bring it to us, or we bring the team to you.

The point of professional crating isn't to make the shipment look tidy. It's to make sure your cargo survives the realities of ocean transport: forklift handling, vibration, humidity, stacking pressure, and the occasional rough swell.

If you're shipping anything more delicate than palletised goods, talk to us before you book the freight. A free packaging consultation usually pays for itself many times over in damage avoided.

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Buying EXW? You just signed up for **everything**. In **two countries.**

Under EXW, the seller's only job is to package the goods and have them ready at their door. Risk passes to you the moment they're available — *before* they're even loaded on a truck. From that point on, the entire logistics chain is yours.

**As the importer, you arrange and pay for:**

1. Loading at the seller's premises
2. Inland trucking to the origin port
3. **Export customs clearance — at the seller's country**
4. Origin terminal handling
5. Loading on board the vessel
6. Ocean freight
7. Marine insurance
8. Destination THC
9. Import customs clearance
10. Inland transport to your warehouse

**Why EXW is brutal for importers — four gotchas:**

⚠ **Foreign export clearance.** You — a Malaysian buyer — are now legally responsible for clearing goods through *Vietnamese* (or Thai, or Chinese) customs. You have no local tax ID, no broker relationship, often no legal standing to file. You'll need to hire a foreign forwarder just to handle something the seller could've done in their sleep.

⚠ **Hidden total cost.** EXW quotes look cheap — it's just the goods. Once you add foreign broker fees, origin trucking, export clearance, VAT exposure, origin THC, freight, insurance, destination THC, duties, and last-mile, the landed cost can easily exceed a clean FCA or FOB quote.

**Practical truth most forwarders won't tell you up front:** ask your seller for **FCA (Free Carrier)** instead of EXW. Same minimum-effort idea on their side — but with export clearance properly assigned to the seller, who's the right party to do it. You save real money and skip a legal grey zone.

If you're buying EXW from overseas and don't have a forwarder at origin, talk to us. We've got broker partners across Asia and can take the foreign-side mess off your plate. Free 15-min consult.

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**EXW = Ex Works.** The minimum-responsibility Incoterm.

As the exporter, your only job is to make the goods available at your premises — packaged, ready, and the buyer takes it from there. No transport. No clearance. No port. Nothing.

It sounds simple. It's often messier than it looks.

**What's actually on you:**

1. Have the goods packaged and ready at your named place
2. Notify the buyer they're ready to collect
3. Provide the invoice and any docs the buyer needs

That's the whole list.

**Where EXW gets exporters in trouble:**

⚠ **The VAT / GST trap.** To zero-rate an export, you typically need proof the goods left the country. Under EXW, that proof is supposed to come from the buyer's export declaration. If they never give it to you (or never even file it), your tax authority can come back and charge VAT/GST on what you thought was a clean export sale.

⚠ **The export clearance grey zone.** Malaysian customs expect the *resident party* to clear goods for export. A foreign buyer often can't legally clear — no Malaysian tax ID, no broker relationship. So in practice, the exporter ends up clearing anyway, even though EXW says it's not your job.

⚠ **Loading at your dock.** Risk transfers when the goods are placed at the buyer's disposal — *not* when they're loaded onto the buyer's truck. If your forklift cracks a crate while loading, that's technically the buyer's cargo. Disputes happen.

**The practical truth most forwarders won't tell you up front:** almost every cross-border "EXW" deal should actually be **FCA** (Free Carrier). FCA is the same minimum-effort idea but with the export clearance properly assigned to the seller. Incoterms 2020 specifically pushed users toward FCA for international trade for exactly these reasons.

If you're quoting EXW on an export, send us the deal. We'll do a 15-minute review — usually it should be FCA, and the switch saves you a tax / liability headache later. Free, no commitment.

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Heavy. Oversized. Time-critical. The cargo most forwarders quietly turn down.

That's the cargo we move.

**Actions Logistics — Project Cargo:**

→ **Multimodal expertise** — air, sea, and inland — coordinated end-to-end, not handed off between three different vendors.
→ **Real wins under our belt** — not theory.
→ **Engineering review on every job** — load weight, dimensions, lifting points, route survey, port handling. Done before booking, not on the quayside.

**Three jobs we're proud of:**

✈ **15.6 tons** of air freight from Kuala Lumpur to Incheon
✈ **6.6 tons** of air freight from the United States to Kuala Lumpur
🚢 **1,500 tons** of construction materials from Kuala Lumpur to Bintulu

These weren't easy moves. They each needed special equipment, route planning, customs coordination, and crews on the ground at both ends. We delivered.

If you have a project cargo enquiry — heavy, oversized, dangerous goods, time-critical, or all of the above — send us the details. Every project is different, so we'd rather take the time to understand it properly and come back with a realistic plan than rush you a number we'd have to walk back later.

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Buying CFR? Good news, bad news.

**Good news:** the seller pays the ocean freight. One less line on your invoice vs FOB.

**Bad news:** you take risk the *exact same* moment as FOB — when the cargo is loaded on board. The seller's freight is paid, but if anything happens to that cargo mid-ocean, it's your loss.

CFR = Cost and Freight. The seller covers cost up to the destination port. Risk passes to you the moment it loads.

So as the importer, you still pay for:

1. **Marine cargo insurance** (CFR does NOT include insurance — and your risk starts at loading)
2. Destination terminal handling charges (THC)
3. Import customs clearance — duties, taxes, brokerage
4. Inland transport from port to your warehouse

**Three ways importers get burned on CFR:**

→ **Skipping marine insurance.** This is the #1 mistake. Risk transferred at loading. No insurance = if the vessel sinks, the loss is 100% yours, even though the seller paid the freight.
→ **Trusting the seller's choice of shipping line.** Sellers optimise for *their* cost. You may end up on a slow line with bad transit times, multiple transhipments, and no recourse.
→ **Surprise destination charges.** CFR ends at the destination port. THC, demurrage, port storage, customs — none of that is in the CFR price.

Why importers accept CFR anyway: simpler quote (one number), no need to manage the shipping line at origin. The trade-off: less control over routing and zero insurance built in.

If you're buying CFR and haven't sorted out marine insurance, talk to us before the cargo ships. We'll quote it free — usually a fraction of what you'd lose if a single TEU went overboard.

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CFR = Cost and Freight.

Think of it as **FOB + ocean freight.** You (the exporter) cover everything FOB covers — *plus* the sea freight all the way to the destination port.

So as the exporter, you pay for:

1. Trucking from your factory to the origin port
2. Export customs clearance
3. Origin terminal handling charges (THC)
4. Loading the cargo on board
5. Ocean freight to the destination port ← the new line vs FOB

What you DON'T pay for: marine insurance (that's CIF, not CFR), destination THC, import clearance, inland delivery to the buyer.

**Here's the part that catches exporters off guard.**

Under CFR, **risk and cost transfer at different points.**

→ **Risk** transfers to the buyer the moment cargo is loaded on board (same as FOB).
→ **Cost** stays with you all the way to the destination port — you're paying for that ocean voyage.

Translation: if the vessel sinks, the buyer's loss. But if freight rates spike between your quote and the actual sailing, the loss is yours.

**Three places exporters bleed money on CFR:**

→ **Confusing CFR with CIF.** CIF includes marine insurance. CFR does not. Quote one, deliver the other, and you're explaining yourself to an angry buyer.
→ **Forgetting destination THC is the buyer's.** Some forwarders bundle it in. You pay it; technically you shouldn't.

If you're quoting CFR and want a freight rate that's good for 30 days (not the spot rate that expires in 48 hours), send us your origin → destination pair. Free quote, we'll lock the rate.

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Ocean freight isn't just about getting a rate. It's about getting the *right* rate, on the *right* lane, with capacity that's actually there when you need it.

**Actions Logistics — Ocean Freight Forwarding:**

→ **Direct shipping line relationships** — we book directly with major carriers. When the market is tight, capacity goes to forwarders the lines know and trust. We've been booking through them for over a decade.
→ **Coverage on key Asia and global lanes** — Asia intra-region, Asia–US, Asia–Europe, Asia–Middle East. FCL, LCL, re**er, and special equipment.
→ **Rate stability when it matters** — for regular shippers, we lock rates for 30 days so you can quote your customers without sweating spot-rate spikes.

It's also why our shipping line partners trusted us with the **open-top container tender** — a job most forwarders won't even quote because the equipment is too specialised.

If you're tired of freight quotes that expire in 48 hours and "no space" replies during peak season, talk to us. We'll quote your origin → Port Klang lane and lock the rate for 30 days. Free.

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Buying FOB? The seller's job ends the moment your cargo hits the deck of the ship. From that second on, every cost — and every risk — is yours.

**FOB = Free On Board.** As the importer, you take title and risk at the loading port. The seller is done. The clock is now on you.

So as the importer, you pay for:

1. Ocean freight — the actual sea transport
2. Marine cargo insurance (FOB does NOT include it — you arrange it)
3. Destination terminal handling charges (THC)
4. Import customs clearance — duties, taxes, brokerage
5. Inland transport from port to your warehouse

Three places importers quietly bleed money on FOB:

→ **Skipping marine insurance.** FOB has zero coverage built in. If the vessel sinks, the cargo is gone — and so is the loss.
→ **Letting the seller pick the shipping line.** Some sellers cosy up to forwarders that pad the ocean freight. You pay the markup.
→ **Underestimating destination charges.** THC, demurrage, port storage, duties — none of it is in the FOB price. Build them into landed cost BEFORE you commit.

Why most importers still prefer FOB: control. You shop the freight. You choose the insurance. You see the shipping line's performance.

If you're importing under FOB and want a clean quote on ocean freight + marine insurance from your origin port to Port Klang, send us the details. Free quote, no commitment.

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