Oz to Europe - the non-overland bits?
 

An Australia to Europe two-up motorbike trip in the planning may turn into a van trip. The crossings not possible overland (Oz to Indonesia, Thailand to India) we were going to ship the bikes via air but that obviously is not going to be possible with a van!
Just wondering is a shipping container the norm for these crossings or another form of sea travel, to put it another way: is the van we buy going to have to fit in a container or are there 'open' ferries to ship the vehicle?

I would go with the container option for security. Not sure what's available on the routes you're looking at but there are ro-ro options for some crossings in the world.
They're generally cheaper, but afaik you have to leave your keys with the van, so unless you can lock off the rest of the vehicle and just leave keys to access the drivers compartment it's a risk.
I'd be happy to use ro-ro if I was moving an empty vehicle, but not loaded up with my gear.

There are various container options , not just the standard height/length type . This gives you more options on the vehicle front . RORO can be a real liability depending on the route , from the point of view of security , even containers if shared can have some risks in that way as well.
Some people I know that came the other direction have a website that may help you a bit with route and other factors
Overland With Kids |

Containerised is really the only way to go for a loaded overland vehicle.

Which route are you taking? Are you shipping direct to the UK or someplace else?

Let me know if you need any help with shipping from Aus.

G

Thanks, original plan (on the bikes) was ship Oz to Indonesia, drive to SE Asia then ship from Thailand to India or Nepal and drve the rest of the way (Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Europe). Route remains the same but flexible depending on what suits us best.

We've used RoRO untill now without problems.

Keep in mind that a container has a certain dimension, so if your vehicle is higher than 2,3m you will not fit in a regular container.

Everything in life is a risk. We take our "valuables" out of the car when shipping (except the stuff in the hidden safe) and with us on the ship/plane/...
The only thing they might steal is clothing etc... nothing really important.
And RoRo is hassle free and straight forward. Something I like.

Yep a container is more "secure" but I've read more "stories" with containers than with RoRo. And my van is 3m high anyway, so I can't even think about a container...

Hi Griffdowg,

I'm looking at shipping my 4x4 from darwin (Aus) to Dili (Timor) in July. I have been in contact with James Geddes from ANL. He has quoted me for a 20' container around $2800 after conversion to AUD. Does this sound right? I thought it would be cheaper after reading what other people have freighted there bikes across for.

Hey all,

I'm actually planning the opposite of this with my girlfriend. We're in Sydney and plan to van around Aus, and then head in to SE Asia. I'm struggling to see any clear answers here (or from elsewhere on the internet).

Has anyone got experience of getting vans over this way? There was mention of roro 's, but are there any specific details?

Cheers!

Ideally any past shipment would be in Shipments by Travellers | Horizons Unlimited

If you want an individual response .. then I think your out of luck.

Will your van fit inside a standard or a hihight container? That opens up the option of shipping using a container ..

Roro you can find on the internet .. they have standard routes so best to use their ports - saves costs and reduces mistakes. Best to ship out of a vehicle importing country to a vehicle exporting country, otherwise your probably on a fully packed route - so the costs will be higher.

For Sydney Roro was Wollongong last time I looked, and they went to Japan/Korea. Don't know about other routes (Europe, America).

Hi All,

I'm doing a Oz to England trip starting early 2016 and the big non-overland part is Oz to SE Asia. The research I've done took me to Swire Shipping

http://www.swireshipping.com/files/S...yer_6feb_E.pdf

That is Darwin to Singapore & Dili (Indonesia). I got quoted ~USD 1500 for 20' container and ~USD 2700 for a 40' container. I'll be taking a Toyota Prado

As far as I can find there is no RORO for Australia to SE Asia. I'd be happy to be proven wrong

Most avoid Singapore .. due to the government charges of putting a vehicle on the road.

Roro .. look at where new vehicles come from .. those would have Roro ... think Malaysia has some cars coming here? The Roro ships going back should have space ...

I'll be making a few more calls later this week to see if there is any other option from Darwin to SE Asia.
Will let you know how that goes

Does Darwin have any Roro ships calling?

I would think it highly unlikely as Australia is a relatively small market, Darwin is very remote from the major pop centres, possible roro would be either Perth (Freemantle) or an eastern seaboard port.HTSH

There are definitely roro ships bringing new cars to Perth, I live there and have seen them myself.

Don't know about what their routes are or if its possible to get a lift with them ona return journey. For me I wanted to drive through Australia so Darwin is my exit port, but no roro as far as I can find