Truck RoRo UK - SA
 

We're looking at switching from North-South to South-North due to the problems in Syria.
I've spoken with Wallenius Wilhemsen today - 2 sailings/month Southampton-Port Elizabeth and Durban.
Costs work out at:
63USD/cubic metre
Fuel surcharge 33%
Forwarder commission 2.5%
Terminal handling (UK) £11/tonne
Bills of lading £25/set

For our Mog camper this works out at approx £3k plus costs in SA.
The downside is that Wilhelmsen will only ship "fixtures & fittings" and no personal effects - when I asked what this did & didn't include they couldn't explain and suggested that I provide an inventory for them to consider.

Before I do this, has anyone had experience of how to get round this, what is the inventory used for (purely the shipping line or also for customs?), can anyone suggest which would be the better arrival port in SA (in terms of security/reliability, costs etc)?

There will be nothing unsecured in the cab and the box can be secured to prevent access from the cab - I assume that the only keys that I will have to give the shippers will be those for the cab/ignition?

I've seen Dave the Hat's excellent summary of shipping SA-UK (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...pe-costs-50092) - very useful.

Thanks for any help,

Ian

Have you checked out Grimaldi Line? Ride safe.

Looking at the Grimaldi website they don't seem to go any further South than Angola. I'm not keen on shipping into Luanda as I suspect that SA might be more reliable/secure/less hassle.

Hi Frenchian,

This is the link to the better write up I posted after shipping:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...h-africa-52348

From my experience, they didn't ask anything about what was on the truck in terms of making an inventory. The truck used to belong to Dragoman Overland, and came back to the UK with tents, mechanical parts, tools, cooking equipment, camping stools etc etc.....pretty much everything you need for a big journey. There was also numerous personal items from ex crew of the company (djembe drums, clothes, inverters, mini disc players, CDs, paintings etc etc)

They didn't seem to care less, and very very surprisingly NOTHING appeared to have been taken from the vehicle. Even the brand new cranking batteries were still there!

If I can be of any more assistance don't hesitate to ask. Really can not recommend Wilhelmsen enough they were so oefficient compared to other long haul roro operaters.

Totally agree about 2WW, I have used them several times from the UK to Durban and return and UK to Halifax and return. The only word of advice I would give if you use Durban is to keep a close eye on the 2WW agents there, it's not that they are corrupt, in fact they discounted as much as they could for me but don't seem to understand the importance of paperwork which is really surprising as they are all South Africans of Indian extraction and of all of the old British Empire, India adopted with the most enthusiasm the Brit fetish for paperwork. Finally as to personal kit, I found that the 2WW people at Southampton were quite happy with personal kit stored in my panniers as long as inventory lists were completed with a bit of poetic license, you know, is it a towel or a surplus liquid removal device. Ride/drive safe.

I like the idea of "naming things" for the inventory - do you know what the inventory is actually used for?

Thanks for your help,
Ian

It seems that Wilhemsen insist that ALL keys travel with the truck "in case of emergency" - ie impossible to protect the critical areas. This is a disappointment as security is my top priority for choice of shipping as I don't want to arrive and have to spend time/money replacing pilfered items.
Looking at the insurance policy they propose it only covers losses whilst on board the vessel at sea - so if some low-life helps themselves on the docks it's down to me! This is exactly where I perceive the risk to lie!

However - I've only seen good reports on roro shipping so far - no-one seems to have actually had a problem - or have I missed it?

Wilhelmsen are ok with the toolkit - but won't accept any responsibility for it.

I've just had a further quote today:

www.autoshippers.co.uk : £2663 port-to-port (Sheerness - Durban) plus £34 "UK Export Documentation Fee"

As these are effectively freight forwarders it's not clear which shipping line it's with.