Shipping to/from Buenos Aires
 

Hi there.

I have written to some of you who are based or just travelled through Buenos Aires, but am also posting as others may be able to reply.

I am shipping from Montreal to Buenos Aires and have been quotes US$1300 of port fees (obligatory) and US$1000 for a local customs broker. Can you confirm whether these are normal fees?

I would greatly appreciate advice as we are meant to ship on 1st November.
We have also been in touch with others who have not used local agents, some have found the experience difficult recently. Can you thus confirm whether an agent is necessary for Argentina?

Many thanks in advance

It seems very steep to me. You would be very well advised to get in contact with the good honored xavier of Dakar Motos. His wife helps brokering now and then I heard.

If you have time and are on the cheap, you can do it yourself. Read our blog here.

always good is to read Karin's write-up on this.

Adventurous greetings,
Coen

Txs Coen and Karin, once more!
(PS Just PM'ed you on ExPo!)

i am here now
 

i have read its very steep to ship in here ,i am shipping out from here right at the moment ,i am doing my own customs clearance ,the only hassle so far is getting your passport copied and verified by a notary (crock of shit), i would ship into varaparaiso in chile ,its just over the hill

just send you a pm back, with quotes from Malaysia, not all that bad.

I would prefer to do it myself in Buenos Aires. Just take your time and never lose your nerves. Do any of you speak a little spanish?

Yes we both speak Spanish (though a bit rusty I have to admit), that should help.
Coen, txs for the PM. You got good prices from Malaysia!

We are feeling more confident about shipping into BA and are in touch with some of you there already. Thank you for the pieces of advice, replies and contacts. Contonine to keep coming in. We are making good progress.

It will be a pleasure to meet up in BA, Argentina or anywhere else on the road. Stay in touch,

Isa & John

I just come back from the Grimaldi office in Buenos Aires and the port.

3 years ago, i shared a container and getting things sorted cost us one week and 600 USD, which was already unjustified. The "free parking" used to be 5 days, so you had time to do it on yourself, even tho clerks were not very cooperative with foreigners.

Today, getting the vehicules out cost 1360 dollars. They changed the 5 days rule to include non worked days like the weekend. Since they need one day to unload, unless the ship arrives on Monday, you just dont have enough time to do it alone, getting an agent to accelerate the process is simply compulsary. You will then have to add 320 dollars to the 1360. Total damage : 1680 dollars to use a crane to move the container and get the vehicules out. Add to this that if you want to do it on yourself, you will need to give a "warranty" of 5000 USD to your agent till the process is finished, payable in cash. Paying in pesos will cost you 3% more than in dollars or euros.

This is a plain nonsense, totally uncorrelated to real costs, i would strongly advise you to ship to Brazil, Uruguay or Chili, Buenos Aires has become simply unaffordable unless you send a container with 10 motorcycles and share the cost between all the people, but then good luck with the organisation.:nono:

Here are the details as of 10/28/2009 for a 20 ft container :

Port charges :
Handling (5 dias) : 196,60 USD
AGPxTN4 : 15 USD
Desonsolidado : 450 USD
Cargo ISPS : 8 USD
Gate : 25 USD
Total : 618 USD
IVA : 62 USD
Total+IVA : 880 USD

Agent charges :
THC : 221 USD
TOLL : 90 USD
BL : 35 USD
Handling : 25 USD
Delivery order : 45 USD
Logistic fee : 25 USD
Gastos Gravados+IVA : 169 USD
Total : 480 USD

Total compulsary : 1360

Optional but compulsary due to lack of time : Agent broker : 320 USD

Total of total of total :1680 USD/1142 Euros.

Charges!
 

OUCH!!
I have just read about your costings, not good reading.
We are in BA waiting for our bike which should be here today/tomorrow. It is coming over from Cape Town as part of a groupage load in a 40 foot container, so hopefully our charges won't be so high.

South African side costs:
ZAR 2900, about £240

We are using a Shipping Agent in BA to organise everything for us this side.

SSL Consolidation Service SA
Bernardo de Irigoyen 380/10


So far our costs this side have been:
Desconsolidacion US$ 181.50
Manejo Documentacion US$ 96.80
AGP (Tasas a las cargas) US$ 7.26
Total US$ 285.56

They have told us that there is no charge for the Customs but we will have to pay costs for the warehouse where the container will be unpacked. Still waiting for the email with the final charges but will post them back here when I get them.

Kev & Lorraine Hatchett

Bonjour Vorteks,
Hi Kev & Lorraine,

Thank you for the detailed pricing. It helps a lot.
Hoping to get Cruz ok and a short stay for her in the warehouse as this seems to be pricey!

We will be in BA on 13th Nov and Cruz towards the end of the month.
Thank you once more for posting and please keep updates.

Looking forward to meeting you.
Happy travels meanwhile!

Isa & John

I ll stay in Buenos Aires for a while, you are welcome to come by for a beer, coffee and share experiences, ideas, addresses...

D'accord, super!

We have just taken a monthly rental in Palermo, BA from 13th Nov. Will be in touch and happy to go for a drink and chat!

Meet up.
 

Hi Vorteks,
We are in BA also, in a hostel in San Telmo. Not sure for how much longer. If you are close we could meet up.
Hi xfiltrate,
have tried your number a cpl of times without success, you must be a very busy man!
Our mobile phone number here:
1138509394 :phone:

Kev & Lorraine

Hmmm. Sorry to hear of your bad luck. You might have met the wrong guy. Agents tend to calculate in their favor and might make up posts that sound logical. We had a such a good experience and I don't know why one time it would be different from the other but it does.

I don't know about Chili, but Uruguay has simple procederes as has Buenos Aires in my eyes. Brazil should be avoided at all times. We have been warned in advance by Brazilians before shipping out of Malaysia and we have met overlanders who got stuck in the Brazilian bureaucratic system. 10 days it has cost them....

My advice, ship to Buenos Aires, take your time and don't hire an agent!

Charges
 

Hi all,
Update on the costings.
After finding out ourselves about the ships arrival here in BA, and that our container had been emptied, (our shipping agent hadn't been in contact with us :nono:) we set off for the E.M.B.A. (customs) office to arrange all the paperwork to retrieve the bike. We sat in their waiting room from 10:30 until all the paperwork was done at 17:30!!
As stated earlier, no charge for customs.

E.M.B.A
Avda. de los Inmigrantes y Avda. Ramon S Castillo (1104)
(In the cruise ship terminal)

We picked the bike up today from Gemez II warehouse with no problems. Office staff were very friendly and helpful as were the customs guys (who let us reassemble the bike in the warehouse), and no shortage of help from the guys in the yard helping us reassemble the bike.
We didn't even have to get rid of the crate ourselves.

Gemez
Avda. Ramon S Castillo
Sector Arenero de la Darsena F
Calle 14 (1104)

Breakdown of warehouse charges, all in Pesos:

Entrega de Mercandarias LCL = 740
S.I.M = 95
Recupero Gastos de Puerto LCL = 190
Recupero Ivetra Importacion LCL = 20
Resolution 13331/02 LCL = 75
IVA = 235
Total = 1,355

Heading for Cordoba tomorrow, Viedma for the meet and Ushuaia.

Kev & Lorraine Hatchett

Shipping process at arrivals in BA
 

Hi all,

So we are in the week preceding the arrival of the container in Buenos Aires.
Here are some questions I hope you can advise on. Thank you.

1) Is the warehouse compulsory?
We are hoping to drive the car out of the port straight away.

2) Can we be there when the container is being opened?
The car does not pass through without us putting some weight at the back (we had three men putting their weights on the back in order for the car to fit into the container when loading) - because of the roof tent, which is carbon fiber, and thus fragile. (even with tires deflated)

So far, here are the costs for a '20 container 1 vehicle + personal effects:

Step 1: The shipping cie in BA, Mediterranean MSC (in $USD)
River plate toll: $90
THC destino: $140
Logistics fees: $25
Delivery order: $73 ($60+$12,60 tx)
* Handling: $35
* Carta de garantia/Escribano: $20 (paid 60 pesos)
TOTAL: US $383

Same day transfer made to the shipping cie to their account in a specific bank (far from the office of course).

* Those items do not seem to appear for all shipping cies, or could simply be new. The carta de guarantia had to be done through a public notary, the escribano.


We thus finished the paperwork with the shipping cie on Tuesday, and now have EMBA and TRP to deal with. It seems EMBA does not want to deal with us until the day after the car arrives (meant to arrive Thursday, so Friday with EMBA)... this is perhaps to extend our stay, we are trying to circumvent this.
3) Does anyone know about this?
We know some were able to do it before, but this is not recent - perhaps it has changed.

Thank you for your quick advice.

John & Isa

1/ if your vehicule is still there 5 days after its arrival in the port, you will be charged parking. Week ends are counted in those 5 days.:censored:

2/ Normally, they need to wait for you to open the container. We had 4 guys helping when we opened it.

Regarding insurance, this is better to have one prior to leaving the port, since there usually are police officers controling once you leave it. The two times i took a vehicule out over the 3 last years, i was not asked for insurance.

See you at thanksgiving party tomorrow evening

Impuestos on port charges?
 

Hi. Just got back from another long day between the bank and the offices at the port! The boat has arrived and we are waiting for the discharge. Looking forward to that thanksgiving diner I tell you.

So far, estimates with the TRP (Port charges) indicate the following ($USD):
Cargo seguridad: $8
Lavado: $20 (this is new)
Barrido: $16 (this is new)
Devolucion: $20
Cargo manipuleo: $91
Tasas a las cargas: $18 (according on tonage)
Desconsolidado (incl. verificacion): $300!

TOTAL: $US473 + impuestos = $US573 (2176 pesos)

We may be charged an extra $180 according to where the container has to be moved back to the shipping cie. Waiting for confirmation.

There are new costs at the port, apparently since last month.

The weird thing is that everything has impuestos on it, making a total of $473 + impuestos =$573. I am not sure that as visitors we need to pay these impuestos and I haven't seen any in the costs described above by fellow travelers. Needs checking before paying tomorrow. Does anyone know?

We also need to get an insurance for the car before we leave the port. It appears you are sent to jail without it, and really it doesn't cost a fortune to get it for your peace of mind.

We hope to be able to drive off with Cruz tomorrow afternoon...

Good luck, and happy diners...
Adventurous greetings,
Coen

p.s. hope to see you on the road somewhere

A clarification
 

Cruz, it was great meeting you two and Bjorn. Welcome to Buenos Aires... Elisa and I really had a good time, sharing our experiences and hearing of yours. I especially like the Cambodia border stories of Bjorn, and the fact that Isa looks very much like a seductive spy.

As for the insurance comment, I suppose you added it to your last post because of my insistence that everyone buy vehicle/moto insurance in Argentina. I really did not mean to blow the circuit breaker at Romarios, but that often happens when I am trying to get my point across. No kidding, I have to be very gentle with computers and cash registers. I have a history of interrupting all things electronic, I don't understand it myself. It drives Elisa crazy.

Actually, if you have an accident with substantial property damage or personal injury then, you will go directly to jail if your insurace coverage cannot be verified by the police.

With insurance, your agent can intervene, maybe keep you out of jail and if you do go to jail, he/she can bail you out.

The police on the streets are not authorized to determine fault, so everyone without insurance goes to jail until the accident can be sorted out by a judge. This is a process that could take months!

At a police check you run the risk of having your vehicle/moto impounded, but it is doubtful you will go to jail, you will be fined and spend about 6 weeks trying to get your vehicle/moto returned.

I sent you a private message re Parana Insurance and the name of the agent, etc...

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

Met Isabelle and John at the party here. Isabelle impressed most of the guests by her beauty and John by his positive attitude. Unusual first name for a guy from the Philippines.:cool4:

Regarding VAT, you have to pay it on all services, like in France. If you check my detailed bill, you ll find out that VAT was added to the total amount.

Isabelle, don t, worry, there are tarentulas only in pet shops in Buenos Aires :rofl:

See you on Monday with your war tank.

Hi Cruz,

Nice to meet the two of you the other night! Just received a list from my receiving agent here in BA about what I've got to pay them. Same agent as "panhandle1300" were using for BA clearance when they shipped their bike from Africa.

Desconsolidation: US$181.50
Manejo Documentation: US$96.80
AGP (Tasas a las cargas): $7.26
Total: US$285.56

This is exactly the same price as Panhandle1300 had to pay for their bike. (Kev/Lorraine –*if you're reading this: How many cubic meters was your crate? (I used a BMW crate, which I know are all the same size no matter what bike – 2.58 cbm).

I'm reasonably happy with this. (I know that in Melbourne 'Desconsolidation' is US$110 per cbm, so with the prize above, Buenos Aires is about 40% cheaper than Melbourne).

Bjorn

Costs update
 

Hi,

Thanks for a lovely evening with the expats of BA, & thanks for the comments! ;) - my spyness has been revealed I'm afraid...!

We prayed to get Cruz today, but it will have to be Monday. Patience is required. Yet, we managed to get all paperwork done with the Terminal (TRP) and customs (EMBA).

Philippe is right, impuestos, which are taxes, 21% in this case, are indeed added to bills here (and do not appear separately, which is why we got confused). As foreigners and tourists in transit, you do not pay the extra taxes the locals do for permanent imports, but you do indeed pay the 21% tx - which you need to make sure is included in initial quotes/estimates the terminal gives you.

The process has so far taken three full days of presence, efforts and tos & fros to the bank, the port, within which different terminals and offices. This has happen before the boat arrived, but also after it arrived, as the container is not immediately available. We expect an extra day to finalize the process and open the container and drive off.
Throughout, we had discussions with various people, including the manager, personnel at the terminal and customs, and commercial and taxes department officers, in order to clarify the details of the process and the bill, and understand what we were paying for. This reduced the initial quotation by $200 nearly as we did not need one of the items they subscribed us to automatically.

For those who will follow, this is the way it goes for a 20' container (but please bear in mind rapid inflation and the addition of new costs to reflect this)

Costs with TRP Terminales Rio de la Plata:
Cargo seguridad: $10
Devolucion importacion: $24
Cargo manipuleo: $110
Tasas a las cargas (per tonage, in our case:) $22
Barrido de contenedor (for MSC shipping): $20
Lavado de contenedor (for MSC shipping): $24
Desconsolidado (new) is broken down into 2 (this is the $300 I initially wrote down, plus taxes):
Desconsolidado de contenedor: $182
Servicios adicionales al conslido/desconsolido: $182
TOTAL: US$573

We meet lovely people along the way, were offered coffee by the customs officers which whom we shared a few laughs and spent several hours discussing Argentinian cultural traditions and other matters.

The experience for us, without an agent, was enriching, required patience and time, and was indeed quite costly although within normal local prices thanks to some "soft arguing"- but we are sure it all vale la pena!

Good luck to all travellers arriving in Buenos Aires.
See you in Viedma in the next two weeks.

Isa (& John)

Hi Bjorn,
Nice to see you too. Let us know how that Boca football match was...!
Amazing pics, u r a pro :)

NOTE for others:
Prices are cheaper for a motorcycle nayurally, especially when sharing container/crates.
Prices I listed down are for a car loaded inside a 20' container (and occupying the whole space). It thus need extra work, cargo manipuleo, bringing back the empty container, ect.

Hi Isa/John,

The costs you wrote down above:
Which ones did you pay to your receiving agent? And which ones did you pay to the warehouse?
The first part of your "Desconsolidation" is exactly the same as what I've got to pay my agent. So it seems a fixed rate no matter of the container size.

Your "Servicios adicionales al conslido/desconsolido": Could it be that this is for bringing the container back, because of your car?

Bjorn

Which ones did you pay to your receiving agent? Please read earlier in the thread costs to MSC Shipping, receiver (shipping costs different and obviously paid at port of origin)

And which ones did you pay to the warehouse? None for the moment, given 5 days to clear the container (the weekend is counted within those 5 days). Note that a lot of the paperwork needs to be done when the container has arrived and so takes some time.

The first part of your "Desconsolidation" is exactly the same as what I've got to pay my agent. So it seems a fixed rate no matter of the container size.
Your "Servicios adicionales al conslido/desconsolido": Could it be that this is for bringing the container back, because of your car?
The desconsolidacion is cut into two parts as I mentioned. It includes verificacion and proper desconsolidacion, plus some moving of the container indeed, incl bringing it back empty.

I m awaiting the end of your "Adventure in the Argentine bureaucratic Jungle" and your total bill, to compare it with ours and ask explanations to Grimaldi.

Mafra already reported a lower offical price than the one we paid. This would be interesting to understand the additional costs Grimaldi has to bear in comparaison with your transporter to justify any important difference in local fees.

We were also surprised to hear from the local Grimaldi agency that it was fairly common for their company to ship unaccompanied vehicules without container, while in Europe, the official version is that this is an absolute no no for insurance reasons.

Thanks you all for that very cooperative thread, we might see clearer in that maze with every bit of information that is being reported.:eek3:

I m still feeling stoopid i had to pay twice as much to get the motorcycle out of the harbor (0.3 km) than to actually ship it (12000 km)...or was i smart in Europe? All in all, a total shipping cost of 800 Euros seems still acceptable compared to other experiences, especially since it didnt require any effort on my side except bringing the bike to Antwerpen, nor abusive waiting.

edited

So :

- any idea where the 510 USD surcharge comes from with Grimaldi compared to other shippers with similar weight containers? Do they have additional costs that would explain the 60% surcharge?

- any idea why Grimaldi demands a 5000 USD cash warranty to let customers do the paperwork while others don t ?

These are the mysteries we are trying to understand here.

As i said, the process was painless, but does it justify paying double the price?

Thanks for your posts, Mafra, but unfortunatly they failed to help us understand the reason of the surcharge by 60% by Grimaldi compared to other companies for a container with similar weight, since fees are calculates at 95% on container unit.

They don t explain us as well why Grimaldi asks for a warranty that nobody in his right mind would carry cash in Buenos Aires while others don t, forcing customers to take the services of an agent.

Cruz, since Mafra claims the warranty to be a new international rule, why didnt your shipping company demand it from you?

I hope they are on the road by now...

... they are.

We nearly are on the road, wrapping up things in Buenos Aires before properly hitting the road in a few days. Planning the road a bit, probably stopping for some hiking at the Parque Provincial Ernesto Tornquist and Sierra de la Ventana. We will have to learn now where to park safely, this is still a concern. Viedma is on the way, looking forward to meeting you all!

So we finally got the car out yesterday. We entered the deposit area of the terminal, and took her out ourselves from the container. It was very interesting to be inside the terminal and have a close look at the thousands of containers, the trucks, cranes and other large equipment maneuvering there, making clearer the numerous operations and people involved in the process of handling, desconsolidating, ect. After nearly a week, and this is perhaps because we like to take our time and chat with people and understand exactly what we are paying for, we were delighted to find Cruz (she's a landcruiser) without a scratch, starting at the first attempt after reconnecting the batteries. She is now parked safely, thanks to Vorteks. We found that the whole process was fair although it did require patience, humour and money of course.

In terms of insurance, we are covered by La Holando, thanks to suggestions of Mailking. Reasonable price for a good coverage, they have offices in several locations and seem to be a large serious cie with many kinds of insurance. Third-party (responsabilidad civil) 6-months insurance for Mercosur - Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brasil for $1000 (pesos).

Good luck to all those who will be awaiting their cargo at the port of Buenos Aires and happy travels.

May the adventure begin (or perhaps continue)

I&J

Can you give us the final details of all your costs in the port of Buenos Aires? It will certainly be of use for the next travellers arriving and confronted to a bill they dont understand and are asked to pay without detailed explanations.

Did you company demand a cash deposit to allow you to process the papers on your own?

Last time i watched thru the window, your left stearing wheeled elephant was sleeping quietly in the Japanese Garden, preparing for a long race.

edited

So this is 1130 USD for a 20 ft container at a change of 1 USD= 3.80, and this includes a lot of unnecessary services (10 days parking instead of 5, hotel transfer...)

Still waiting fo John s final bill to get the real price of the service and taxes stripped off all artificial costs and propinas.

edited

This is precisely what John is about to teach us

Final costs Buenos Aires
 

In reply to Vorteks, here are the total costs when shipping a vehicle to Buenos Aires (with personal effects secured inside), in a 20' container, without using a freight forwarder/broker agent.

Not advisable to do it yourself if you do not speak Spanish or have limited time.

FEES

Step 1: The shipping cie in BA (also called receiving agent)
In our case this was Mediterranean MSC - cies may charge different fees.

River plate toll: $90
THC destino: $140
Logistics fees: $25
Delivery order: $73
* Handling: $35
* Carta de garantia/Escribano: $20 (paid 60 pesos) - can only be done through a public notary, an escribano. There are several in BA and they are used to this.

TOTAL: US $383


Step 2. Port charges at TRP Terminal
Cargo seguridad: $10
Devolucion importacion: $24
Cargo manipuleo: $110
Tasas a las cargas (per tonage, in our case $22
Barrido de contenedor (for those using MSC): $20
Lavado de contenedor (for those using MSC): $24
Desconsolidado (recently increased) is broken down into 2:
Desconsolidado de contenedor: $182
Servicios adicionales al consolido/desconsolido (incl. verificacion): $182

TOTAL: US$573



Note 1. Please bear in mind the process is different when shipping a vehicle container/RORO, FCL/part, and even more so for a motorcycle who may be part of a container load (sharing the container), or own crate.
Please note that we do not know the specifics for motorcycles, there seems to be a warehouse issue as well. We had no dealings with a warehouse as we took out the car within the time allocated and directly from the port.
(Note: the weekend days are counted in the allocated time)

Note 2. Agents are the ones who deal with customs (EMBA), liaising with the shipping line and the terminal (TRP).
The vocabulary in the shipping world seems to be wide, and this is why it is useful to keep asking questions during the process as to what prices mean and include, and who does what. There are many operations involved, reflected in different items and prices.

Note 3. Items listed in the fees section with (*): * Those items are new (from Oct 09) and/or applied because we specifically used MSC who had special requirements. Different shipping cies/receiving agents may not charge these or have different ones.

Note 4. Impuestos, or taxes, 21% in this case, are automatically added to bills here (and do not appear separately on bills). As foreigners and tourists in transit, you do not pay the extra taxes the locals do for permanent imports, but you do indeed pay the 21% tx - which you need to make sure is included in initial quotes/estimates given to you. (In particular with TRP).

Note 5. You will need several copies of your passport and Bill of Lading.You will end up with a large pile of paperwork, to be done in correct order, without which you cannot proceed from one department to another, and then from one office to another. If you do this on your own, you will mainly deal with your shipping cie/receiving agent, the terminal TRP and customs EMBA - several times each.

Note 5. Bills are set by same day transfers (to MSC and to TRP separately) to their account in a specific bank, usually on Florida St (far from the offices of course). - bear in mind the time to go there.

Note 6. To be on the safe side, we copied and scanned all paperwork at different steps in the process to make sure nothing would get lost.

Note 7. Get car insurance before you leave the port.


PROCESS

1- Shipping cie / receiving agent
In our case, we were sent a letter to the apartment we were renting from our shipping cie MSC, advising an ETA of the ship and therefore the container arrival. We went 2 days before to MSC to pay outstanding fees, get an escribano to validate the carte de garantia. Original BL to be handed over to MSC, copy passport, bring the original too. Go to the bank for same day deposit. Once done, MSC provided us with a delivery order.
(Note: If your cargo gets transfered to different boats, make sure that your BL clearly states that there was a change of boat and the final boat. In our case, we had to go back to MSC simply to get the BL stamped with final boat. Would have saved us half a day had we known this.)

2- Terminal paying TRP (1&2)
Once you have the delivery order, check online for boat arrivals, with the cie or TRP. We went to TRP Terminal 1 & 2 a day before to ask for the terminal fees, which they give according to BL and your own circumstances, in our case vehicle inside container fully loaded. Go to the bank for deposit. Make sure you get receipt.
Give the bank receipt (and half delivery order) to the TRP cashiers.
Another guy at TRP with the paper the cashier gives you and other half of delivery order. He signs them. Gives you other paper that will include returned half delivery order and new paper for the handling part of the terminal (you will have in hand the caratula de desconsolidado, the orden de coordinacion and the autorizacion de CFS). He will tell you when your container is available to be opened and will confirm that you have paid.

3- Customs (EMBA)
Once it has been confirmed that the container is ready and that you have paid, the information is in the system and you can go to EMBA arrivals / tramites (terminal 3). In EMBA, you need a number without which you will not be able to see them. Long wait. Paperwork time. Originals. BL, passport, registration docs and all other doc in hand. They give you loads of forms to give back to the other EMBA office (below), incl importacion doc.

4 - Terminal handling TRP
Go to TRP 3. Wait for the guy to do the desconsolidacion. Passport to officers to check you can go inside the port. Get internal bus to your container inside port. Gets opened, taken out, checked. There is air for your tires inside the port.
Back at EMBA T3 handling downstairs for final check and paperwork. Fill in form and get your importacion doc signed.

5 - You can leave! Final check at the cabins when leaving the port. They asked for our insurance papers there.

6 - With a good deal of patience and a good sense of humour
... you're good to go!

Best of luck.

If you're not up for all that running around, which took us a week, just hire an agent for an extra $300 or so (at the time, Nov 09 - remember, prices change very quickly in Argentina).

Ok, i note that, like the other couple with the motorcycle, you paid 850 USD in Buenos Aires to get your vehicule out of the port. It looks to be the same price whatever the content of the container.

I also note that, like the other couple, you were not asked a 5000 USD warranty to process the papers by yourself.

In conclusion, as of today :

Anything quoted above 850 USD total goes in the shipping company pocket without valid argument.

The 5000 USD warranty is a commercial argument meant to force the customer into buying the services of the house agent.

Thanks for that detailed report, Isabelle, this will be of use for many travellers willing to go the same path. They will have now valid arguments to deal with shipping companies and avoid the eventual ripp offs. We paid double the price for not getting such a detailed report before we arrived in Buenos Aires.

Good work!:clap:

Reminder of your first post :

CONFIRMED - We were not asked a 5000 USD warranty to process the papers by ourself.

Could this thread possibly be made easily accessible over time to forum readers, like with a sticker or a reference to a place where visitors willing to ship to Buenos Aires or South America usually go?

Imho, it contains enough details to be very usefull for those people and avoid the pitfalls of arbitrary agents quotes out of the country, counting on our naivety to take additional unnecessary margins. Being treated like cash cows is rarely a pleasant feeling and can be avoided with visible information.

Thanks in advance

Philippe

Hi,

Got my bike out of customs & the warehouse in Buenos Aires yesterday. Cost: US$285 for the receiving agent (SSL), AR$1020 for the warehouse.

I went to customs at 9am & by 5pm I finished. Then over to the warehouse (Gemez I). Very helpful & friendly people there, including the customs guys. I left by 6:15pm (although they normally close by 6).
Double-checking with SSL (where I had established a very good relationship with a guy called Roberto), they said AR$1000 is a pretty good price for the warehouse.

Total shipping costs Melbourne to Buenos Aires, including EVERYTHING: US$1200

That s 550 USD total for costs in Buenos Aires. A good reference for those shipping with a crate.

What did you do with your crate, did you sell it here?

A belgium lady posted on a Buenos Aires expat forum and she claims the full shipping price for her car from Belgium to Buenos Aires, including port taxes, was 400 Euros (600 USD). This is so different from our experiences that i asked a double check and some details. Here is her answer :

The information seems still odd to me since even if the shipping was for free, the lowest port fees would have been 850 USD for a car. She might be confused but i thought the information about return containers might be worth to be posted.

Bringing vehicle from USA (Miami) to Buenos Aires - Page 3 - Baexpats - Community of Expatriates in Buenos Aires, Argentina

I left the crate at the warehouse. It was a wood/cardboard crate, which I got from BMW in Melbourne at the time.

Grimaldi Freightercruises
 

Does anyone know about the fees in the port Buenos Aires if an arriving with motorcycle aboard? What I should pay in this case?
Thanks
Alex

Import Costs
 

Hi Alex,
If you read all of this thread you should find answers to your question!! doh
We shipped in from Cape Town S.A.
Check my final costing post in this thread here ;-

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...049#post263104

These costs shouldn't be to far out, only 12 months old.
When are you arriving BA?? We are flying back in on 6th Oct. to carry on Northbound.

Kev & Lorraine

When...it`s not so fastly:oops2: I`m just making a plans. But thanks for your answering I was in hurry and didnt read carefully.
Alex

Alex,
Good luck then with the planning, definitely don't miss out on South America, it's a great place.
Kev & Lorraine

I read carefully. But the difference is I`m planning to arrive with a motorcycle aboard. It looks like a ferryboat. The container shipping is another case. Am I right? Which of these payments I should pay?
1.Entrega de Mercandarias LCL = 740
2.S.I.M = 95
3.Recupero Gastos de Puerto LCL = 190
4.Recupero Ivetra Importacion LCL = 20
5.Resolution 13331/02 LCL = 75
6.IVA = 235
Total = 1,355
sorry if I`m looking stupid...doh

UK to BA
 

Just got 3 quotes for flying a bike (KTM 950 Adv) from UK to Buenos Aires:

£1,150 (+ £250 to crate it up - not mandatory, but quite strict on the quality of the crate- oil has to be drained, NO fuel).

£2,500 (yes, £2,500!) I didnt even bother to ask if this included crating costs

£1,450 with James Cargo. Includes crating up. Oil left in bike, wheels still on, but deflated slightly, about 3 litres of petrol in tanks.

I went with JC. They were nice to deal with and I have confidence in them. They even offered to open up the warehouse on a saturday for me to drop the bike off at a convenient time for me.

These costs were a bit of a shock to say the least. In early planning a year ago I had seen posts that suggested the cost would be ~£1,000 max. The Icelandic volcanp pushed prices up and they havent come down since. Fuel tax is blamed for keeping the prices up.

Had I known this I would have looked into shipping more seriously. My research told me that flying is a trade off between higher costs compared to shipping, but you get greater confidence that the bike arrives on time. And apparently (according to posts here) there is a lot of hassle at the customs in ports (hidden charges, delays etc). £1,450 is a lot of money though!

Hope this helps someone.
2 weeks to go and very excited .... the bike is no longer in bits on the garage floor and is ready to go :D

Just an update on the charges in BA:

£70 to United Airlines (the air freighter) for documentation. What a rip off and this was never mentioned to me by anyone.

£270 release and handling fee in Ezeira airport Customs.

And that's it. Not too bad really.

I had serious fun and games getting the bike released. It took 8 hours, but we got there in the end. Unfortunately, when I got to my bike and fired it up, one of the fuel petcocks flew out the left side tank and about 3 liters of gas proceeded to spill out on the cargo warehouse floor. I had the left half of the bike dismantled right there in the warehouse to remove an after market fuel filter that had melted and clogged up. Not an ideal start!

The guys in the warehouse are brilliant, especially the foreman (Eduardo, speaks good english, wears a blue basebal hat - he runs the show. He is a serious dude and I owe him a lot of thanks for helping me out that day).

Anyways, since I didnt use a broker, I have some usefulk advice that I found out the hard way:

• Cargo terminal is located 500m to the right of international arivals
• You need your passport to enter the cargo terminal as a visitor
• You need your airway bill to start the ball rolling and it all starts at the 'Particulares' office, which is located in building number B2 (just ask at the security /reception barrier and they will guide you there)
• You will go from Oficina (office) 2, to 3, to 1, to 3, to 1, to 2 . etc etc in no no particular order for several hours ntil all paper works have been stamped and copied. Some people speak a little English, some Spanish would help, but either way, the process is fairly straightforward and it will be made clear to you where you must go next.
• Although it is kind of efficient, in a random kind of way, even the Argentines picking up thir cargo dont know excactly what is going on. This means that there is a lot of cue jumping and 'who you know' type meetings. Dont take any crap and just butt in where you can. It sort of works on a first come first serve basis, but obviously be polite and respectful.
• You absolutely must have ARGENTINE INSURANCE FOR YOUR BIKE. First thing they asked for.
• You need to be able to show them where the chassis and engine number are on the bike, and obviously these must match the paperwork.
• If you plan to include luggage with the bike crate, I would advise getting your agent to include this as an item on the airway bill manifest. This was a sticking point with m and it took a lot of spanglish sweet talking to get my luggage cleared (the aduana chief had to come down and clear it)
• You will need fuel upon exit - tell the guys at the exit gate and they will guide you through an emergency exit so that you can get to the YPF fuel station (the airport roads are one way and the customs exit leads you straight to the toll (peaje) road). If you do this, you will hit the first toll barrier without a ticket (normally, you pick up a ticket on entry to the airport road system). Explain to them that you have come from the aduana and went to get petrol and they will let you through. In my case they actually radioed the customs guys to verify that I was telling the truth.
• You will need about 8-10 pesos in small bills/change to get you to BA through the toll systems. Head towards the booths signed 'Manual'.
• BA traffic and driving is bonkers: Good luck

Wow, what a long post. Hope it helps someone.
Suerte
Gar

According to Dakar motor Buenos Aires the cost of unclear the bike at the port is from 700 to 1000 US$ (PLUS COST OF THEIR SERVICES) in case of shipping by seafreight

No more fees than for your computer or your camera. You dont pay taxes for your "luggage".:welcome:

The ever increasing taxes port fees are indeed making the transatlantic cruise a more and more viable option for those who arent on a tight schedule... and immune to sea sickness ;o)

Another 30% inflation year in Argentina, competing for world record with Venezuela. Since the change with the dollar is kept on par (like in the 90s), travelling the country on a motorcycle is not for the shoe stringers any more.

Arrived yesterday in BsAs and bike being flown 2 days ago.

Dakar Motos helped with the clearance and cost was as follows:

Dakar motos USD200
Aerolineas fee USD80
Another airport charge USD187

Insurance at 60 pesos/month

so roughly USD470 plus insuance.

Took nearly a day at the airport to clear.

Can recommended Dakar Motos, Sandra is a great help

Just waiting for my luggage as the airline lost in somewhere

Cheers
Kim

What was the total cost including air shipping?

Just for comparison, dakar motos quoted us US $1850 to airship a 1200 GS BA to LA, CA. I think that was the whole package. Dave

thanks !!!
 

This has been a very usefull and informative thread. Big Thanks to all the contributors. :clap:

I'm planning to follow the Dakar2013 rally as a spectator and for this, i am planning to ship my bike by sea from Dubai (air freight is very expensive - almost 4-5000USD for freight alone !!) to Lima, Peru as the Dakar 2013 starts from there instead of BA as it happened duing the last few years.

thanks again
Vicks

Vicks

The quote you have for airfreight sounds very expensive. i brought mine over from the Uk (via Dubai) on Qatar airways in January for a lot less than that. I also used Sandra at Dakar - really good and helpful person.

For cargo quote you could try these guys. They did a good job for me. You may know this , but I was told that when shipping you may have a window of a month for when the bike arrives as opposed to a few days by air.

Giles Ernsting
Motorcycle Shipping Manager
James Cargo Services Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1753 687722 ext. 216
Fax: +44 (0)1753 687723
email: giles@jamescargo.com
web: www.jamescargobikes.com

good luck
delbert

+1 for James Cargo and +1 for Dakar Motos.

I rode the bike to the James Cargo warehouse and took a taxi back. they took care of everything UK end. Sandra at DM took care of everything BA end. Couldn't be easier.

Hi, I air shippedd two bikes, in two crates, from Serbia to Lima Peru in 2009. After 4 days and 440 USD total I take bikes. Withouth agency, by myself. You must have SUNAT sticker to drive legaly through Peru. It comes for that money.
Custom terminal is at Callao, outsite Lima. Some 15 km north from center.
Cheers Buca

2 cars from South Africa to Buenos Aires
 

Hi!

Planned to ship 40" conteiner with 2 cars from South Africa to Buenos Aires.

And get quote from agent about Buenos Aires port costs:

IN USD:
1 x 40"Ctnr

SEALINE Agent 390.- Estimated (To be AT COST as per result)
BUE PORT 890.- Estimated (To be AT COST as per result)
DECONSOLIDATION 190.- (Documents deconsolidation) (per MBL)
TEMP. IMPORT FILE 250.- (per car) (2)
CNTR STRIPPING OFF 425.- Estimated (To be AT COST as per result)

CUSTOM BROKER FEES 300.- (per car) (2)
BANKING CHARGES 121.- (per transfer)
LOG. FEE 200.- (per car) (2)

Sub Total 3.516.-

Additionally, if Ctnr cannot be stripped off at Port Terminal and has to be
trasnferred into a bonded warehouse, it will also apply:
CTRN transfer 370.- (Haulage from Port Terminal to Bonded Warehouse)
BONDED WAREHOUSE 850.- Estimated only. To be added AT COST as
per result but, in this case, BUE PORT charges (indicated above) and should be less.
--------------------------------------

Does anyone have recent experience? And is this normal price?

I am planning to ship from San Francisco to Buenos aires by air. I could only find one air shipper - Schumacher Cargo, based on a recommendation by the James Cargo folks (who only service the european market).

I have a quote for $2800 total from Los Angeles warehouse to Buenos Aires or Lima for about the same price. Quote includes crating expense, but not customs and duties at the other end. the airline Schumacher uses is Aero Mexico and it flies LAX to MExico City and then to Buenos Aires. I plan to use dakar motos to get the bike out.


Anyone recommend any other air frighters?
shridhar

FYI
just sent bike back to London from BsAs with British Airways. Sandra was very helpful (as always) and things went very smoothly at the Airport & offices/payment.

I stripped my bike down (front wheel, screen, wing mirrors, panniers off etc) and it came in at $1,600.

I was there with Otto who was sending his bike to Hungary - $2,500.

He just put his bike on the pallet & we worked out that the difference between stripping down and not is about $400 (the balance being two extra legs to get his bike to Hungary).

Hope this helps

Delb

HI Delbert

I am looking to ship two bikes back from BsAs this time next year, 2013, did contact Sandra at DM prior to organise your shipment or was it possible to organise this when you got there ?

Many thanks


Andrew

Andrew

It is possible to organise when you get there. Sandra can organise things pretty much within 1 week (subject to flights).

enjoy your trip

Delb

Many thanks Delb, very much enjoyed your blog, lots of great information. We will be shipping to Halfax from the UK, riding across Canada and then down south, starting June 2013, really looking forward to it now.

Regards

Andrew

You will have a great time!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Delb

www.overlandbirds.com

some info there about shipping to BA. Car from South Africa. Single 20foot.

Clearing and fees in BA ware $2100usd. paid in pesos and swapped the dollars on the blue market to save money. Saved me $500usd.

Plate Logistics, part of Grimaldi did the clearing.

Shipping by air from BA????
 

I am crossing the Bolivian boarder tomorrow and still making my way south. But I am looking to ship my bike back to the states in about 5 - 6 weeks. Does anyone have any info that might help as far as possible costs, customs info, and or airlines to contact. Thanks for any insight!!!!

Shipping bikes from peru or Bolivia
 

I recently asked if anybody knew of a shipping company which can ship our bikes from Lima or Cusco to Miami. People replied by saying that it's sea freight only from there. How about La Paz?? Air freight from there? Does anybody know? Any information on prices? I know there is a link on the hubb with shipping information, but most of it is outdated. Does anybody know of a more up to date database for this stuff? If anybody shipped a bike(s) from central South Am to the USA recently, can you tell me from where to where, how much, and what company??
Also: how much is the visa for US citizens (and bike import) for Bolivia and where do we apply for it??
If shipping costs are astronomical, how does one go about selling a bike down here? Any insight?
Thank you!
moto_girl

Im pretty sure you could air freight from La Paz, but I am sure it would prohibitively expensive (at least for my budget). You can still ship ocean from Bolivia even though its landlocked (they truck it to port in Arica, Chile). For a point of reference, I shipped (ocean) a Harley Davidson from Miami to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Freight charges were $800 and it took over 60 days. The company was Unibol . I would assume you could find similar pricing in Peru.

I would think you could get a good price for your bike in Bolivia. I can put you in touch with the BMW club here in Santa Cruz if you are interested. That might be a good place to start if you want to sell it.

Also get a second opinion of air freight from Peru. I cant believe that it is impossible. Maybe prohibitively expensive though.

good luck

We sent our 1200 gs from BA to France with Dakar Moto
everything was perfect.
Sandra and Javier have really helped us, everything was very well organized and very fast.
with the exchange price was cheap.
(photo on our blog)

Does anyone have any up to date information about shipping from UK-Bsas.

How much was the shipping and how much was the clearance ???

I did this in 2007. I paid £600 shipping and £300 in customs and clearing port.

James Cargo were VERY expensive in 2007 when I got a quote from them.

Bump !!!!

Anyone with recent shipping prices from UK-Buenos Aires ??

Cheers, Ted

I'm just in the process of getting some; will report back.

Ed

Muy bien :thumbup1:

This was the last quote I got:

EUR 357,00 Crate for international Shipping (size: 5,05m3)
EUR 65,00 Delivery of empty crate to port warehouse
EUR 125,00 Lashing of motorcycle on crate by warehouse staff
EUR 292,90 Ocean Freight Hamburg-Buenos Aires (base rate EUR 58,00/m3 X approx. 5,050m3)
EUR 78,00 Locale port and freight forwarder charges Hamburg
EUR 40,00 Ocean transport insurance
EUR 50,00 Export Customs Declaration Germany
EUR 136,85 Consulting Fee "International Transport"

Deparutes : weekly, direct service
Transit Time : approx 21 Days (Port-Port)


Additional Costs:
- all costs, surcharges or fees at destination until final hand over of motorcycle (freight forwarder fee and warehouse charges)
- Import customs declaration (can be done without customs agent)
- all not named and advised costs resulting due to transport: e.g. customs inspections, waiting times, storage fees, delays, etc

The actually shipping is cheap if you can find your own crate. The problem is fees on the Argentinian side.

So about £1000 before you even get to Buenos Aires.

Even in 2008, that was £300 by the time all storage, handing and admin was paid...


£1500 for one way to Bsas is crazy. I'm going to buy a bike in California and ride it to Bsas. When ! I'm not sure..

Suriname is much cheaper and easier to get through customs, but most people want to start in BA then head South to TDF before riding Chile and Bolivia.

I collected a few shipping company names off the Hubb that people had shipped to Suriname with.

They all said "We don't ship small private cargos any more"...

This obviously doesn't mean it can't be done but I don't think it's as accessible as it used to be.

Right, I'm getting a quote from DHL (who I work for) is there anything specific you'd like me to ask?

What cubic crate measurement should I give? How much does a crate tend to weigh?

Shipping between South Africa and Buenos Aires
 

We recently flew our bike to BA from Johannesburg, at a very good price. It was quite an ordeal and we have had a lot of requests for advise, so we wrote a blog on how to do it, with contacts etc. Maybe it could help someone
How to export your motorcycle from South Africa - Great American Trek

Option for canadians
 

This seems like a pretty good deal for Canadians.

Air Canada's new motorcycle cargo options - Canada Moto Guide

http://cdn4.canadamotoguide.com/wp-c.../AC-prices.jpg

Shame no European airlines are doing anything like that.

It is a great deal for Canadians. Hats off to Air Canada.

Bikes might be different and shipping FROM BA too, but most people shipping vehicles TO South America ship them to Uruguay where procedures are quicker and cheaper than BA.
One unlucky traveller who didn't realise got stiffed for thousands in extra charges when he shipped into Argentina. Haven't heard similar complaints about Montivideo.

Once the bike is in Motevideo you're looking at 1345.34 USD and 72 hours clearance.

Once in BA you're looking at 750 USD and 48 hours clearance. Edit: it's more like half a day to clear, but you need to give the bike time to be taken to the warehouse etc..

Sources:
ECU Line Montevideo
Dakar Motors BA

EDIT: I should add that these are for air freight. It's sea freight that it the big problem in BA.

Unfortunatley, that special deal with Air Canada only applies to Europe even though the add shows two locations in South America.

Grimaldi freight cruise option
 

Fwiw, don't forget the Grimaldi Ro-Ro freight cruise option between Hamburg/Antwerp and Montevideo (used to be BA). I imagine 4-wheelers use this a lot.
www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com

2014 prices show the cost for a shared cabin at €1800 with full board + €600 for the bike.
Leaves every fortnight and looks a lot cheaper than air freighting bike and flying after it to BA or anywhere in SA. You just need to have the 4 weeks at sea to spare. Sounds quite an agreeable way to start or end a journey to me.

Dont know about the charges at MV; I would hope a lot less than 1345.34 USD and 72 hours clearance.

Shame about Suriname - that looked a good alternative.

You show the 2014 prices!
Here you find the 2015 Prices:
http://up.picr.de/23483877ef.pdf

Don't use Bs. As.
 

Hi, Have done this a few times. I would recommend Montevideo, Uruguay.
10 years ago Bs. As. was a good place to ship to but the people got squeezed and then got greedy. My last few trips have been in/out of Montevideo and they have been consistent and good. The last out, was via Grimaldi. No trouble apart from a few days late arriving at the port. But hey, the wine is good and the town interesting. Good hostels too.
Chile is OK, but more expensive. Valparaiso can be a bit dodgy, but, on a whole Chile is a good safe place to be. Santiago, Happy House Hostel, give all there my regards.
Avoid Bs. As. for shipping, I recently sent a pack of Paddington books via DHL and they waited for 10 days. Not notifying the addressee that they had arrived. I'm sure they would have "disappeared" if I had not complained to their head office. The new administration is better than the last, but it will take a while before that gets through to the workers.
Flying in/out with hand luggage is ok. Anything else is "take your chances. I lost a bag full of LUSH stuff on a previous trip.
keepcalm

Those fees sound normal for sea freight. It's always best to use air freight when sending vehicles to Argentina.

I can tell you though, fees for customs, handling etc. for arrivals by air are cheaper in Bunoes Aires than they are in Uruguay, and quicker too.

I think I posted costs and timescales earlier in this thread.

+ 1
I flew my bike into BsAs in 2012 and though the process was pretty painless for me, it certainly was very evident that the whole process was choked with bureacratic procedures. The most off-putting thing was that it cost $100 (might have been a little less, dont remember) or so per day that the bike was in their possession and wasnt picked up. They count from the moment of arrival.

And there is no mercy with the fixers either. Javier (dakarmotos)sounded pretty ominous about the problems of what happens if the procedures are not followed and i got a schooling on "how it should be done". Glad i didnt have to pay for their services on top of the bureacratic idiocy.

Yep, i'd try Chile or Uruguay next time.

Never been there but I also hear MV is the new BA for single shipments.
Even Grimaldi freight cruise goes there now.

Customs clearing in BA
 

This is up to date regarding clearing in BA.
I am very supportive of Vorteks.
I am getting shafted at the moment with quotes. And it is the bank holiday weekend coming up.

TRP (port)
$775

Hamburg Süd (agent)
$434

Some other clearing bits
$661

Broker( Darkamoto)
$350

Everything total = $1559 before tax

This is more than what I have already paid for the UK agent and the actual shipment of a hilux in a 20ft container.

I am not happy that the goal post moves around. I am happy(well, not totally) to pay what is due and fair. So will be armed with Vortek's research result for a new battle next Tuesday. Wish me luck.

Ps. I will bear in mind of all your posted advice and stay calm.
Will also update this site of pictures of buildings and locations.

Detailed BA shipping procedure and cost
 

Right boys and girls, this is the actual breakdown cost and procedures as from late November 2016


Argentina Info | JKGetlost

Shipping from South America to South Africa
 

Because of the hassle I had with Dakarmotos here some other option where you can also ship personal effects like camping gear:

I will ship by:
Motorcycle Shipping Company, Sao Paulo, Brasil
Contact person: Augusto Leocadio, +55.11.9.8152.4142, motoshipco@gmail.com
He is very motivated to help me with the shipping (I know also about someone else he helped a lot). I got all the time answer by email within one or maximum two days (even he was in holidays!). Packing and other support will be done at Touratech Brazil in Sau Paulo. There you can do also some maintenance. Price is a little less than DakarMotos, but shipping personal effects like camping gear are already included in the price. So far for me the best option to ship the bike and I decided for him. As soon I have shipped the bike I let you know more about details.

I’m disappointed about DakarMotos. It took every time about two weeks until I get an answer by email (I heard this also from many others). With DakarMotos it’s not possible to ship personal effects like camping gear. He offer me the highest price of all three (Bike and sidecar). For a bike only it’s a bit more than Motorcycle Shipping Company. They just put the bike onto a crate. It makes everything very easy but without ‘compact’ the bike (e.g. remove front wheel) the dimensions are bigger and so more expensive.

An other option is:
Wave Logostics, Montevideo, Uruguay
Contact person: Oliver, olivier@wave-logistics.com
Got very fast an answer, but not all of my questions are answered. You can ship personal effects as well. Price is a bit higher, but he took a bigger dimensions than I told him.


Feel free to contact me to get more information's
Chris

chris@infiniteroad.ch

Air Canada
 

UK to Buenos Aires with Air Canada, using 'motofreight' as an agent, cost me £1,300,

Dakar Motors in Buenos Aires where great. If you need to speak to Javier, ring him in the morning, he's not great with emails.

My bike arrived with panniers and topbox on a Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning I met Javier and his wife at the airport for customs clearance.
They did everything for me, it took about 2.5 hours and I was sent on my way.

Happy customer.