shipping to South Africa
 

Hi all,

I'm looking into shipping a 4x4 from the UK to South Africa or Namibia. Can anyone give me a rough idea of price please?

Thanks,

Straggler

The other day I met a couple at a caravanning fair in Munich. They had shipped their camper to the USA and back again after two years. To get a cheap quote they drove into the harbour and asked the freight and shipping companies for empty space in their containers going to the US, because these are usually not completely full. The companies were just too happy to sell it for a special price. If I remember correctly, they only paid a couple of hundred dollars for each way. I air-freighted my bike to Cape Town via a freight forwarder, which cost me 1,300 Euros. Bloody expensive!

Just an idea...

Funny, I was just thinking the same.... I cant take several months off at a time so started to think about shipping the car somewhere warm and leaving it...

Do you know of safe storage in SA ? I guess a carnet is needed...

Cheers
Matt

Matt,

you're bound to meet people there and most of them are very friendly and helpful. So I would try to find a contact there and find out where to leave your vehicle. The best would probably be on a farm where there is lots of space, maybe a shed...

Hans

A 4x4 cost me 660 GBP by Ro-Ro, plus landing fees etc (can't remember those costs).

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE AUTOMARINE SHIPPING, run by BARRIE VANDEMOLEN, however he often trades under other company names: Shippers 2000, Dircon etc...

Hi Bundubasher

which shipping company did you use? how would you rate the experience? did the car arrive safely etc?

thanks

Tim

Auttomarine Shipping! That's why i warn against him!

The going rate seems to be about $2000 for the actual shipping, then maybe $250 for paperwork and forwarding. Sometimes a fair bit more.
The biggest problem I've had (shipping from Africa back to UK) is getting these companies to even respond to your enquiry - it seems a single container with a car in it is too much hassle for them to be bothered.
I believe it is easier from UK to Africa though.
The best response (if not the cheapest) I've had so far is from a company called AllCargo group, but a google search brings up quite a few UK based forwarders.

Interesting idea. How secure would this be in terms of paperwork and etc?? Still get a waybill and that I'm guessing?

My experience with shipping is horrid to say the least. First time from Vlad to Brisbane I got ripped on arrival and there was a massive delay. The second time from Cusco to Brisbane I got ripped on arrival (yep, Aussie gov and port authorities are thieves) where I was asked to cough up 2k and the container went via Hamburg instead of Tokyo adding 3 month to the trip. All up flying in was as dear as shipping in, so I'm really intrigued about how other manage to do it this cheap. Is it a time flexibility?

Hi,

We've just shipped back from Cape Town to the UK using International Removals | UK Removals | Office Removals | Storage | Britannia Movers International Very helpful and deal with everything at both ends.
Expect to pay about £1800-£2000. They have offices in Cape Town so made things extremely painless. Not sure about an office in Walvis as we were still driving south at that point :)

btw, this was for a land rover. I saw quite a few bikes waiting to head back north. to keep the cost down for those not in a rush, they can wait until they have enough to fill a container and share the cost. Obviously more applicable to folks heading north.

Good Luck

bob-lad

Alfie Goes To Africa | Trundling all the way to Cape Town