How to Pack Cartons for Sea Cargo from Pakistan
A carton that is fine on a one-day house truck often fails on a ship. Sea cargo is stacked, moved, and left in a steel container that can get hot and damp. Clothes, books and kitchen things arrive wet or crushed when the box was a thin market carton, filled to bursting, or left with empty space so the sides collapse.
This is how to pack the boxes. It is not the list of banned items for Dubai (what you cannot send in cargo to Dubai), and it is not air freight or sea freight. If you are moving a whole house, start from international relocation.
Use a Carton That Can Be Stacked
Double-wall export cartons take stacking. Used fruit boxes and thin shopping-store cartons do not. If you can press the side in with two fingers, it is too weak for a container.
Weight
Keep each carton at a weight two people can lift on a warehouse floor, roughly what you would carry up a flight of stairs. Books and tins belong in small boxes. Clothes can fill a medium box. A large box of books will break its own handles.
No Empty Corners
Empty space lets the lid sink when another pallet sits on top. Fill gaps with paper or soft cloth, not with bottles of liquid. Tape the bottom in an H pattern, then the top the same way.
Clothes, Shoes and Damp
Pack only dry clothes. A slightly damp shalwar in Karachi humidity will smell after three weeks at sea. Shoes go in their own small carton so soles do not mark white fabric. Do not put open food, soap bars that sweat, or bleach in a clothes box.
What Not to Use as Padding
- Newspaper print on pale clothes
- Plastic bags trapped with moisture inside
- Kitchen bottles that can leak
Number Every Box and Keep a List
Write the number on two sides. On the list, one line per carton: “3, winter clothes” is enough. The same numbers should appear on the export papers. If you add a box after the list is closed, say so before the goods leave.
How the Boxes Should Sit in the Container
- Heavy, small cartons at the bottom
- Clothes and light goods in the middle
- Nothing crushable under a furniture foot
- A little spare wrap or paper in the last gaps so the stack cannot sway
If a piece cannot live in a carton, that is a crate, not a bigger box. See wooden crating.
Conclusion
Sea cargo is unkind to weak, half-empty or wet cartons. Strong boxes, a weight you can lift, a number on the side, and a list that matches will do more than any slogan on the tape. Send a photo of your boxes if you want a written sea quote. Cargo desk: +92 333 5371111.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ordinary shopping cartons for sea cargo?
Only if they are strong, dry and can be stacked. Thin market boxes crush in a container. Double-wall cartons are safer.
How full should a clothes carton be?
Full enough that the lid does not sink, but not so heavy that the tape bursts. Fill gaps with paper, not bottles.
Why do clothes smell after sea cargo?
Usually because they were packed damp, or soap and food were in the same box. Pack dry, and keep wet items out.
Should I number the boxes?
Yes. The same numbers go on the packing list used for customs.
Is this the same as packing for a local house shift?
No. A local truck is one day. Sea cargo is weeks of stacking and humidity, so the carton has to be stronger.
Can Marsoos pack the cartons?
Yes, if packing is in the quote. We can also use your cartons if they are strong enough.