FAS (Free Alongside Ship) is one of the four sea-and-inland-waterway-only Incoterms. The seller delivers when the goods are placed alongside the vessel (e.g., on the quay or in a lighter) at the named port of shipment, cleared for export. From that point, the buyer bears all costs and risks of loading the goods on board and onward transport.
Under FAS, the seller must:
- Deliver the goods alongside the named vessel at the named port on the agreed date
- Handle export clearance
- Provide the buyer with proof that the goods have been delivered alongside
Under FAS, the buyer must:
- Pay loading charges and arrange ocean carriage
- Bear the risk of loss from the moment the goods are alongside the vessel
- Handle import clearance and pay duties at destination
FAS is most commonly used for:
- Bulk commodities (grain, ore, oil) where the buyer arranges its own vessel
- Heavy or oversized cargo loaded by specialty equipment under the buyer's control
- Charter party shipments where the buyer is also the charterer
FAS is one of the four "sea and inland waterway only" Incoterms — alongside FOB, CFR, and CIF. For containerized cargo, parties should generally use the multimodal equivalent FCA instead, because container terminals don't operate on a strict "alongside ship" basis — containers are delivered to terminals well in advance of loading, making the FAS delivery point operationally fuzzy.
Despite the Incoterms 2010 and Incoterms 2020 recommendations to use FCA for containers, FOB and FAS remain common in container trade — often perpetuating outdated risk allocations.