The "landbridge" is a generic term meaning use the land freight as a means of transport connection. The landbridge is a way of transporting cargo from a port or an inland point of origin in the shipper's country to an inland point or a port of final destination in the consignee's country using a combination of usually sea and land, or air and land, or air, land and sea transports, instead of relying fully on journey by water or air, using a multimodal transport document known as through bill of lading or combined transport bill of lading.
The three processes of landbridge are as follows:
Microbridge (Micro-landbridge)
Shipment from a country's port to another country's inland destination and vice versa. For example, shipment from Asian port to U.S. Midwest destination, cargo unloads at U.S. West Coast port and connects via rail to the final destination under one bill of lading, instead of eastbound route via Panama Canal or westbound route via Suez Canal to the U.S. East Coast port and then to final Midwest destination. Please see Diagram: Microbridge below.
Minibridge (Mini-landbridge)
Shipment from a country's port to another country's port with overland journey in the first country. For example, shipment from Port of Seattle (Washington, U.S.A.) to the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands), cargo delivers via rail to New York (New York, U.S.A.), and then to Rotterdam.
Landbridge
Shipment from a country to another country, and passes overland in a third country. For example, shipment from Kobe (Japan) to Hamburg (Germany), cargo unloads at Los Angeles (California, U.S.A.) and connects via rail to New York (New York, U.S.A.), and then to Hamburg.
The major advantage of landbridge is the speed of shipment, based on the fact that the traffic by land or air is generally faster than by sea, and that the nearest distance between the two points is a straight line. The landbridge is useful for cargo semi-sensitive to time and cost.
During winter some ports in the northern hemisphere may be closed due to heavy snow and frozen seaway. Nevertheless, the landbridge keeps the export and import cargo moving.
The volume of ocean freight flowing between the East and the West increased considerably in the past decades, especially between the Far East and North America. The growth in cargo traffic is expected to continue.
The conventional Eastbound ocean traffic from Asia to the East Coast areas in North America flows via the Pacific Ocean---the Trans-Pacific Route. The route crosses the Panama Canal (in central Panama) into the Caribbean Sea, and then into the Atlantic Ocean. It may take 7-8 hours for ships to negotiate the 82-km. Panama Canal through six pairs of locks.
The conventional Westbound ocean traffic from Asia to the Western Europe or the East Coast areas in North America flows via the Mediterranean Sea---the Trans-Mediterranean Route. The route crosses the Indian Ocean, Red Sea (between Africa and Middle East), Suez Canal (in eastern Egypt, a 161-km. canal linking several lakes and without any locks), and then into the Mediterranean Sea, serving the Mediterranean countries and their neighboring landlocked countries. The voyage continues from the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain in Europe and Morocco in Africa) into the Atlantic Ocean, serving the East Coast areas in North America, and from the Atlantic Ocean northbound to the North Sea and Baltic Sea, serving the North Sea and Baltic countries and their neighboring landlocked countries.
An alternate ocean route to the Trans-Mediterranean Route is through the Cape of Good Hope at South Africa, that is, going around the southern tip of the African Continent, but the transit time is much longer.
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