Japan to Vladivostok by DBS Ferry
 

Hi,

My wife and I will be overlanding from Japan to UK starting in July of this year.

Our initial plan had been to drive north to Hokkaido and take the Heartland Ferry to Sakhalin, but having contacted Heartland Ferry and Wakkanai City it seems that this route is definitely not running in 2016. We're both a bit gutted as we were looking forward to both Hokkaido and Sakhalin :(

So, it looks like we'll take the DBS Ferry from Sakaiminato, Japan to Vladivostok, Russia (via Donghae, South Korea) instead. I was wondering if anyone has experience taking a 4x4 on this route? Is it just a case of driving the car on in Japan, then driving it off again in Russia? Will we need to empty the car when it's on the ship? Are there any gotchas we should know about in terms of customs at either end? How far in advance did you book?

Any info would be appreciated :)

Many thanks!

Mark

Hej Mark,

went from Sakaiminato to Vlad in 2012 with my motorcycle.
Booked 3 weeks in advance by mail, needed to pay cash for ticket at
passenger terminal. And of course the Sakaiminato area was the only one in Japan where my credit card did not work with the ATMs. Took some time to find one.

Needed to leave the vessel in Vlad by foot. Not allowed to drive bike out, Handed keys to ships cargo officer after loading in Japan.
Custom clearance in Vlad about three days, can recommend help of agent,
just search for Yuri Melnikov, Links Ltd on the HUBB.

Don`t miss Hokkaido, my favourite part of Japan.

Good luck

Uwe

Hi Uwe,

Many thanks for the info - all good stuff!

I was surprised to read about the 3 days customs clearance at Vladivostok. I had imagined we would drive off of the boat, head to a customs area and handle the vehicle's temporary import there and then (in the same way you would at a 'normal' border crossing). I'll do some searches for Yuri in the forums.....

Thanks again,

Mark

Just adding this link in case anyone ends up at this thread looking for the same information I was....

Everything you could ever want to know about booking on to DBS Ferry's Japan to Russia route:
From Sakaiminato, Japan to Vladivostok, Russian Federation - May, 2012 | Horizons Unlimited

Many thanks to the author of that page!

Hi,

does anyone have an update on the Sakhalin-Hokaido ferry?

i am getting mixed signals about it running or not. Ive read it is running this summer but motorbikes are not allowed?

I am in Barnaul at the moment and in one month i will be going to Japan. I would love to go via this ferry since it is probably cheaper plus a great opportunity to visit Hokaido. Otherwise i have to go via vladivostok..

please sent tips!

kind regards Joris:mchappy:

It uses a passenger-only hydrofoil type ferry that is not equipped for motor vehicles: https://hs-line.com/ (you can see a photo of the Penguin 33 boat on the front page).

And the boarding information page says in Japanese (at the end of the page)
"We are not taking motorcycles this year."
https://hs-line.com/embark.html#cnt01
It certainly looks large enough to take a couple of motorcycles. Maybe we will get lucky next year and they will change their policy...

It may also be that Wakkanai port customs are not equipped or willing to process motor vehicles - since a large part of the appeal of this service in past years seemed to be that it allowed you to get in without a carnet...