Shipments done by Travellers

In order to avoid Pakistan in our journey from Australia to Europe, we decided to ship our motorcycles from Mumbai to Dubai.
Below I will describe the entire shipment as detailed as possible.
Upon arrival in Mumbai, after a few days of research, the only agent we are able to find, that has experience with shipping vehicles with CPD by sea is Sadikally Esoofally & Co (SECO) (www.secoshipping.com). (N18º56.264' E72º50.370', office is upstairs above chefs and bakers)
Airfreight gave us a few more possibilities but are definitely more expensive.

After reading various negative stories of other travellers about their shipment with SECO, we decide to address our concerns with Mustafa (owner / agent in charge of CPD shipments) and give him the opportunity to clarify the issues.
Most complaints mention packaging/ crating and communication issues. After a long talk we are satisfied with his explanation and decide to go ahead with the shipment.
We find Mustafa very capable of answering our numerous questions and since there were public holidays coming up, he goes out of his way to get the shipment organised as fast as possible.
After some initial paperwork we are send on our way to the carpenter workshop he works with in Navy Mumbai (Bluestar Packing, N19º07.684' E73º03.270')
Having crated the motorcycles previously in Thailand, the crating in India is definitely down to a different standard. We insisted on fixating the bikes with tie downs and lashing rather than wooden scaffolding and do all other adjustments to the bikes ourself. Though slightly wary of our method, the carpenter respects our choice and goes ahead with our wishes. As the crate is not completely closed off it is important not to leave any loose items in the crate.
Since the customs inspection is only done within the customs warehouse (after transport from the carpenters workshop), they are unable to fully close the crate until it has reached the warehouse. Mustafa understands our concern with regards to safety of our bags and gives us the option of being present at the time of transport and inspection. As one of his guys is present during the inspection we decide to trust him but do ask to take photo's before they permanently close the crates.

The price that we initially agree on includes all cost on the Indian side (crating, transport, warehousing, customs and “paperless registration” cost) but do not include any charges on the Dubai side.
It turns out that for Dubai it is cheaper to pay warehouse (5 days after arrival of the vessel) and handling fees in advance so we decide to include that in the total amount we pay Mustafa.
This means that apart from Dubai customs fees, all charges are covered.
Finally Mustafa provides us with the bill of lading, details of the vessel and the promise that we can contact him anytime in case of any questions or problems in Dubai.
Also he actually travels back into Mumbai at 9 pm to return the CPD in order for us to be able to leave the city that same night.

Clearance in Dubai
Upon arrival of the vessel we head straight for the agent in Jebel Ali port. It turns out we need a entry pass that should be applied for in advance online (at www.pcfcsecurity.ae, 6 AED), or can be bought on the spot at gate 7 (5 AED). The cheapest way to get there is to take the metro to Jebel Ali station, then taxi (20 AED) to gate 7. From gate 7 it's again another 8 km to the agent's office and warehouse (Ocean World Lines, N24º56.407' E55º04.576')
Though it is possible to take a taxi, we hitch hiked throughout the entire port with all these lovely Pakistani (ironically), Indians, Bangladeshi, Nepali and Egyptians that went literally out of their way to drop us at our next destination!
The agent in Dubai had clearly no experience with CPD vehicle clearance. They repetitively told us we would need an agent for custom clearance. Total cost for clearance including their fees (only 15% they claimed) would be 220 USD per motorcycle.
Since they were unable to specify this amount we decided to speak to customs ourselves first.
As it turns out the clearance procedure is very straight forward and a lot cheaper then anticipated or quoted. It goes as follows:
1. We take the bill of lading (that we received from Mustafa) to the agent in Jebel Ali, in return we get the delivery order and a stamped copy of the bill of lading.
2. We head for Customs car yard A (N24º59.187' E55º04.575') to receive the customs bill. For the customs bill we needed the following documents:
1. delivery order and stamped copy of bill of lading
2. copy of passport and visa
3. copy of motorcycle registration
4. copy of CPD
5. proof of motorcycle insurance (min. 6 months validity)*
6. payment of 115 AED
3. With the customs bill we can clear the motorcycle from the warehouse to proceed to inspection. We deliberately ask and receive approval from the customs officer to ride the motorcycles to the customs inspection area at gate 2.
4. We collect the motorcycles from the agent's warehouse and receive the delivery order. **
5. After customs inspection at gate 2 we pay 55 AED for Document Processing Fees and 55 AED for the Gate pass after which we the motorcycles are cleared and good to go!

* We got our motorcycle insurance with Royal & Sun Alliance insurance (at a broker's office near gate 4, bldg 16). They organised our insurance on the spot with RSA. Total premium is 488 AED per year, valid in UAE and Oman. Insurance can be terminated within the year after which a refund is issued.
** Despite approval from customs, the agent refused us access to the bikes, as they said they needed customs inspection first. They offered us two options: either organise a customs officer to come to the warehouse (customs inspection fee on location 160AED per vehicle) or they could organise transport for the crates to be transferred to customs inspection area (transport fee approx. 200AED).
Since they already lost all credibility after earlier quote, at this stage we get pretty angry and only after interference of the director of the company all problems suddenly dissolve and we got to unpack the bikes and ride them to gate 2, customs inspection area.

Finally
We are very satisfied with Mustafa of SECO shipping. After unpacking the bikes it turns out items were stolen from one of the crates. On the photo's that Mustafa sent us after customs inspection in Mumbai it clearly shows the items were still there. Therefore the theft had to have taken place within customs holding either in Mumbai or Dubai. After addressing this with the agent in Dubai we got very little responds. Very shortly after clearing the motorcycles in Dubai, we received an follow up email from Mustafa to check if everything went well. We raised the theft issue with him as well as our problems with the agent in Dubai. He followed up on both issues very adequately.
Therefore we can definitely recommend Mustafa for all shipments from Mumbai!

Final note: As is the case all over the world, but probably especially in India, if you want you bikes crated up to your own standard, you should be there in person and oversee the process. In our opinion one cannot complain afterwards, and definitely not blame the agent about these issues if he/ she was not actually there!
Also, we learned the one downside of soft pannier bags in the “open” Indian crates. Mine were attacked by rats during shipment and destroyed beyond repair.

I shipped a BMW 1200 gs. The $700 up front fee was for crating , a full customs handling service in India and shipping to Felixstowe.

Mustafa was brilliant. He speaks excellent English and is very easy to deal with. I dropped the bike off on the outskirts of Mumbai. Visited the city centre to drop off some documents and the process was complete. I spent no time whatsoever with Indian customs officers etc etc.

Crating was a bit dodgy. Although the bike survived with only very minor damage (kill switch broken, some scratches to the screen, a BMW roundel nicked from the fork headset)

They gave me an accurate idea up front about UK port charges. They recommended a UK agent who was brilliant (Shu Burford at Wainwrights Shipping)

Palletised crated transport from Felixstowe to Loughborough £140.00

Total costs in UK £

SECO Crating and shipping £420 Wainwrights UK customs clearance £120 Mannsons UK Terminal Handling Charges (Unpacking of crate from shipping container, dock transport, warehousing) £254. Transport from Felixstowe to Loughborough £140...... Total £934

In contrast on a previous trip I used James Cargo which totaled £1681

Would I recommend or use again... without hesitation. 

The worst shipping ever!

- delays

- damages

- thefts

- corruption

and...     THEY DROVE MY BIKE!!!

Also please see http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/alex/004386.php for dealing with the shipping agents.

Eastern Cargo get a 3/5 because they were expensive and promised some things that didn't happen:

1. That the bike would be held in the crate with straps - the packers didn't have straps.
2. That I would be present when the bike was taken through customs - I was denied entry to the Cargo complex of the airport because as a foreigner I was deemed a security threat.
3. That the bike would be shipped on day X. It was shipped two days later, quoting a problem of Emirates (the carrier) and then a Dangerous Goods Regulation that they had not furnished before, contradicting the timescales they had given me.

Having said that, they were EXCELLENT to deal with in comparison to 5-6 other agents I tried to do business with. In comparison, much more professional, much more knowledgeable, much better English was spoken, there were no ""hidden costs"" etc.

I was annoyed when a currency conversion fluke resulted in a +130 EUR cost for me, but by that point that was just a drop in the ocean.

Come prepared with latest exchange rates, be prepared to be told you'll be charged +2,50% to use any plastic card (credit OR debit), do your own math...

Be prepared for two full days with them at their offices and/or packers' premises. I spent 7 hours with the packers (Eastern had told me it would take 2-3 hours) and then 10 hours the next day at Eastern Cargo offices (they had said 4-5 hours) while the bike was customs cleared. As Indians, remember they're optimistic with time estimates.

My BMW had broken down and nobody I could find could repair it so my trip was cut short in Mumbai. I got Rajendra's details from a local bike dealer and he was well recommended as he imports BMW cars in to India.

The $500 USD included:

* Collection of the bike from my hotel
* Getting Indian customs to add a note in my passport to say the bike has been shipped. They added a note in the passport when I crossed the border.
* Bill of Landing
* Crating the bike
* Shipping to Southampton
* Courier of carnet to UK

The main problem I had was that I trusted them to crate the bike properly - given his recommendation. Unfortunately the bike wasn't strapped down and was on its centre stand with blocks of wood used to stop the bike from moving back and forth. The stand broke through the crate base and the bike fell over causing damage to bodywork. Argh!!!

Apart from that mishap the service was good.

When getting back to the UK I then charged by Surpeme Freight Services.....

* Customs Clearance -