Arrival notice
Cargo arrival notice
An arrival notice is a document telling the consignee and notify party that a shipment is due. The carrier or its agent sends it, with the charges payable for release.
What it is
An arrival notice, sometimes called a cargo arrival notice, is the message a carrier, its agent or a forwarder sends to the consignee and notify party before or shortly after a vessel arrives. It identifies the shipment by bill of lading number, vessel and voyage, expected arrival date, containers and cargo description, and tells the receiver what must be done to take delivery.
How it works in practice
The notice usually lists the charges due at destination, such as collect freight, terminal handling and documentation fees, with the applicable taxes, and states where to pay and which documents to present. It may also give customs manifest references and the free time available. Sending it is commonly treated as a courtesy rather than a guarantee, and the terms of the bill of lading generally leave the consignee responsible for tracking arrival.
Why it matters
A timely arrival notice shortens the gap between discharge and delivery. The consignee can arrange customs clearance, payment and transport in advance, which reduces demurrage and detention exposure. For the agent it starts the collection cycle: the same charge lines feed the import invoice, and payment leads to the delivery order. Late or inaccurate notices are a common root of disputes over who should bear storage charges.
In Sailix
How Sailix handles it
In Sailix the import desk finds a bill of lading and generates its arrival notice as a PDF, with vessel and voyage, ETA, containers and charge lines with tax. The forwarding workspace raises arrival and expected arrival notices against forwarding jobs, with party and office GSTIN, containers, seals and charges. Customers can view their arrival notices in the customer portal.
- Arrival noticeFind an import B/L, review its destination charges, and produce the arrival notice PDF for the consignee.
- Import job managementA ten-step import wizard and master job records that take a shipment from vessel arrival to an issued delivery order.
- Customer portalA customer login for accepting quotations, authorizing B/Ls, reporting payments, confirming pickups and reading arrival notices.
Related terms
- Delivery orderA delivery order is the carrier's or agent's instruction to release cargo or containers to the consignee. It is addressed to the terminal, depot or CFS and names the consignee or its agent.
- IGM and EGMIGM and EGM are the import and export cargo manifests filed with Indian customs for a vessel. The IGM covers an arriving vessel and the EGM a departing one.
- Free daysFree days are the period a container may be used or held without detention or demurrage charges. The carrier's tariff or a contract sets the allowance.
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