Hi all

Any experience with any of these agents in Egypt?
Marine and Engineering Services
sdiwani@mesco.com.eg

Latt Logistics
fatma_ali@latt.com.eg

Egyaptiona Global Logistics
general@eglegypt.com


Thank you
Vleis

Hi Vleis, there are so many options in Egypt. Most lack transparency, are poorly organized, are ill-equipped to deal with arbitrary decisions/red tapes imposed on them by authorities. I had a few horrible experiences already, including having the shipping company change forwarder in Egypt without notifying me, ending up with a painful person, cheaper to the shipper and totally incompetent, summing up into additional temper management challenges for me, and quite a bill to pay - no invoice. One thing for sure, I'd request a written confirmation of the forwarder from the shipper before making a choice. You're better off dealing with one shipper having operations where you ship, there are plenty on Egypt. Otherwise shippers pair with forwarders they never even met, they end-up sending out calls for quotes and then keep it open till the very last minute to secure maximum profits. Maximum profits for them equals maximum hassles for you once in Egypt. All in all, I'd go for a more expensive shipper/forwarder with a reliable international reputation to protect, and tangible resources to solve problems locally as they come up. AGS Fraser is in my opinion probably among the best choices during this trouble period, there are others. Having said that, I'd recommend to hold-on a little, adopt sort of a wait and see mode, check what's going on security wise. The thing is if security collapses in this country, import/export will most likely collapse as well, let alone potentially serious trouble traveling across the country. I'm currently 1 km away from Tahrir, keeping abreast on development. Things have been better. Below is a link to an interesting site pulling news on Egypt in real-time. Indeed real-time news seems to be necessary nowadays. You know, Egypt will still be there after these troubles. You might want to consider another itinerary e.g. South-North instead of Cairo to wherever you're heading. I'm optimistic by nature, but I'm getting seriously concerned now, more than last year when it all started. It feels like there might be a revolution in this country one of these days, sooner than later. Here's the link to real-time news: Egypt News Latest Real-Time Updates

Thanks for the advice Squire. Unfortunately I can only do North to South and will have to hope for the best. I will definitely keep an eye on things, but at some stage over the next 2 months i will have to load the Landy and commit to the trip. I will probably spend as little time as possible in Cairo, but have to get a Sudanese visa. If things do turn worse then hopefully it will be a bit calmer away from Cairo.

Not sure what it is worth, but all those agents were references from my forwarder and supposed to be WCA members (for what its worth).