Ocean Carriers (VOCCs)

A vessel-operating common carrier operates the ship. That is the whole distinction, and it is the reason this section exists separately from our NVOCC section: an NVOCC is, by statute, a common carrier that does **not** operate the vessel. It buys space from the companies on this page and resells it to you. You deal with a VOCC directly when you have enough volume to hold a service contract, and indirectly — through a forwarder or NVOCC — when you do not. Either way the VOCC is the party whose bill of lading governs, whose schedule sets your transit time, and whose demurrage and detention rules you are ultimately bound by. Every company below has an FMC-1 tariff on file with the Federal Maritime Commission as a vessel-operating common carrier. That filing is the fact we publish; the report carries no address and does not say which trade lanes the carrier serves today.