Air Canada Cargo ship M/C to Casablanca
 

I am planning a trip to Morocco with my own bike. Air Canada is having a promo of approx. $1200 to Casablanca. Since I have never done this type of thing before, looking for some guidance on what paperwork is required beforehand to ride in Morocco etc. I will be in Morocco for 3-4 weeks before taking ferry to Spain and riding up to Ireland.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

I don't know the specific procedures at the airport in Casablanca, but I assume they're similar to arriving by ferry. I'd certainly ask Air Canada, since they'll want to make sure you're able to get your bike released. On the other hand, watch out for personnel who so much want to give you answers that they'll make something up rather than admit they don't know.

General requirements entering Morocco: the bike ownership should be in your name, and you should carry all original ownership docs. You'll need to purchase insurance valid in Morocco, which is sometimes included on an EU green card, sometimes not. Since you'll need a green card anyway, best look into this. If it's not included, purchase locally (at significant expense--I recollect about a hundred euros per month). That's about it. The Moroccan government is overly fond of its procedures and paperwork, so expect a bit of time-consuming fussing around once on the ground.

Watch out for radar traps on expressways, and carry a supply of fiches if heading south along the coast. That aside, don't fret--it's not so different from riding around at home, although cheaper, friendlier, and significantly more fun (sez I).

Oh, and when asking such questions it's sometimes helpful to give your nationality, since some rules differ depending on your passport.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Be aware that Air Canada's service to Casablanca is seasonal and does not operate all year round. I was in Morocco two weeks ago, and thought of sending my moto back home by AC - only to find that the next flight wasn't scheduled for several months.

Mark covered the main points in his post above. My experience with Moroccan customs (and Moroccan officials in general) has always been that they are quite polite and happy to see visitors, but you need to have the 't's crossed and the 'i's dotted on all your paperwork. In other words, make sure you have the original copy of the ownership document, a passport with at least 6 months validity remaining, your driver's licence, etc. with you when you go to clear the bike from customs.

I know you can buy insurance for Morocco at the sea ports of entry easily - it costs about €91 for one month. Hopefully you can buy it at or near the airport also, but I don't know this for sure... you might have to go into the city to get it. Don't ride without insurance (even once, from the airport to the city), there are lots and lots of police spot checks on the road.

If you are presently in Canada, send me a private message with your phone number & I'll give you a call and explain - I just got back from a month of riding there and I'm pretty up to date on the procedures.

Michael

Not at all.
Flying a motorcycle into Casa or any Moroccan airport is extremely unusual, as is shipping by sea (a much worse idea).
Airports are set up for air passengers and cargo, not vehicle imports (which can only include motorcycles) so do not expect to be out of there within a day, maybe longer, unless you have good local contacts.

If you have lots of time, speak a bit of French and don't mind such challenges, it might all be part of the adventure, but I suspect you could simplify things greatly by flying it into southern Spain while using a an air freight agency specialising in bikes. Do Morocco and then come back for the rest of your trip.
I am sure Spain is not such an unusual destination for North American bikes.
Easier still - language wise - would be UK or Ireland. Shippio and Moto Freight are 2 names which spring to mind. Ask them about Spain.

For Morocco, all the vehicle paperwork - temp import, insurance - is there at the regular ferry ports. Tan Med port is recommended.
More here.

YES, that is very helpful!! I will contact the Moroccan embassy in Toronto to ensure I have the proper paperwork. I will also see if I can get a green card from one of the European embassies before going overseas.

Thank you for all your great suggestions/tips!

Yes, your are quite right...Air Canada ships bikes from April 1 to September 30. Adventure Rider Radio just had a segment on shipping bikes with Air Canada to various European cities including Morocco. They were interviewing the manager of Air Canada's Cargo Motorcycle program. There was some excellent suggestions and the segment was followed with an interview with our own Grant Johnson of HU.

Thanks for your feedback and I will PM you shortly.

Thanks,
Al

You make a lot of good points regarding language. I don't speak French or Arabic. Air Canada has been flying to Morocco for 5 years, so, I hope the program has been established to make clearing customs smoother. Unfortunately, Spain was taken off A/C's list because Spain will not accept motorcycles that are uncrated. The beauty of A/C Cargo is, after the bike has been cleared with a Dangerous Goods certificate, you ride the bike to the A/C terminal and they take it from there. The bike is placed on a aluminum "cookie sheet" and tied down for transport.

I will check out the other shippers that you suggested.

Thank you!
Al

The Green Card referred to is a document issued by motor insurance companies to show that your bike is insured for a particular company.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-balkans-87473

See post 8

Happy trails,

Peter

Kruzzin,

You can check also with motorcycle express. They ship to many destinations for slightly more than Air Canada but you can ship at any time. They have no restriction from May to September like Air Canada. They do ship to Spain. You can have a quote online within a minute or two.

I did ship to Paris with them. I just dropped the bike. No need to crate the bike. I could not leave any gear on the bike. That is a plus for Air Canada. They used Air Transat for that flight.

Custom in Paris was easy. They just asked you how long you will be in Europe. They make photocopies of your documents. You pay about 80-90euros and you are gone within 30min.

About customs in Morocco, definitely have all your documents in order. At the land border, they did not want to accept my original bike registration. Here in Quebec, our paper is really tiny like a credit card. It took a while for the custom to accept it. I never had problems with that before.

As for the green card, the cheapest way is using the services of Welcome to motosapiens.org | motosapiens.org

Allow enough time to receive your papers.


Patrick

But among the regular air freight how many travellers' motorcycles have they actually shipped?

Air freighting a motorcycle has become a great idea, but Morocco is not a European city; it is a country in Africa with strict importation rules to avoid foreign vehicles getting sold locally on the side. Look at the hassle some other guy on this forum has recently had trying to import a new engine into Morocco. Or another guy whose car was destroyed and abandoned in a desert fire. He had to negotiate some dumb customs tax to legitimise the wreck.

I would see if you can get in touch with the manager of Air Canada's Cargo Motorcycle program from the radio show and ask how the last person who did what you are planning got on in Casa. They will be a great resource. That is why moto freight specialists, as opposed to the cargo arm of airlines, can be more useful. Motorcycle Express work out of Canada, afaik.

Cargo clearance is all very well, but you also need to temporarily import (TVIP) and insure a vehicle for road use. I doubt Casa airport will have a clue about that. In Panama City or Quito/Bogota that has become fairly normal (or the procedures are widely shared). In Morocco I have never heard of it on this forum (though I'm sure it has been asked before).

Like everything, it's all doable with time and money and stress.
I wouldn't be surprised it it involves going up to Tangiers port to get the TVIP.

I know from personal experience that the frontier insurance for foreign vehicles has become very hard to get at regular Assurance offices like Axa in Moroccan towns and cities.
You can of course try and get your own Green Card for Morocco off your domestic insurance. Europeans get it easily enough for bikes. Brits no longer do.

@Kruzzin5 I am a Canadian living in Paris. Will be travelling to Morocco about mid May with a crew to spend a 10 days cruising around Marakesh.


If you are around then, let me know, if our paths cross maybe we can share a beer.




Fyi there are boats from Barcelona to Tangier. Still, probably not that difficult to fly into Casa and be off. Air Canada wouldnt have managed Casa if it was untenable.


Chris

Al:

You are completely misunderstanding the "green card" issue. A green card is a proof of insurance document issued by European insurance companies.

For Morocco, you buy insurance for foreign vehicles at the port at which you enter the country. In your case, because it is not known whether insurance is available at the airport (as opposed to the sea port, where there are numerous booths selling insurance as soon as you get off the boat), you might need to buy the insurance well ahead of time, before you leave Canada, with a start date effective the day you intend to arrive.

We can discuss the whole process in more detail during our phone call this weekend (I sent you a PM).

Michael

Hi Chris:

I'm not quite as pessimistic as you about the ability to process temporary importation of a vehicle at CMN (Casablanca airport), for the following reasons:

1) As you know, Morocco has recently implemented a fully computerized system for recording temporary (touristic) vehicle imports. This means that the customs staff at the airport will have full access to this - they won't be caught in a situation where "they don't have the appropriate forms".

2) Although it is possible that not very many motorcycles enter Morocco via the airport, one heck of a lot of motor vehicles do (think of wealthy Saudis who have villas in Morocco). Hence I suspect that the customs people at the airport will have some familiarity with temporary importation of foreign vehicles, and a motorcycle is a vehicle.

3) Although Air Canada does not facilitate warehousing or customs processing of motorcycle shipments (their responsibility to the customer ends when the cargo reaches the warehouse at the airport), I do suspect that Air Canada will have confirmed that it is practical to import a vehicle this way.

Your point about the OP (Al) contacting AC in Toronto to inquire about the success of previous shipments to CMN is well taken.

Michael

I'm not going to argue that it won't be simpler to follow the well-trodden path, which is shipping into Europe and ferrying to Morocco. But I'm not convinced it'll be all THAT much more difficult using Air Canada directly into CMN. Maybe I've grown too blasé about untangling bureaucratic clusterforks in faraway lands where I don't speak the language.

Selfishly, I hope the OP tries it out and reports back to tell us how it went. From your perspective Kruzzin5, I suggest you go ahead and commit to one course of action or the other only once you're ready, accept any difficulties as hugely educational, and not look back.

Your misunderstandings about the nature of green card insurance suggests that you continue accumulating basic information before making that commitment. That's perfectly fine, as long as you stay reasonably humble. In any case, please feel entirely free to prove me (or Chris) wrong, if that's what it comes to.

Hope that's helpful. Safe journeys!

Mark

Yes, I hope so too. Then the whole process becomes less opaque for those that follow.