California to Panama by sea: Port fees? Paperwork?
 

Does anyone have experience with temporary importation by sea to Panama? I plan to ship my Honda 500 in a crate from the Port of Oakland in California to Panama City, Panama, next March (2019). The LCL ("less than container load") cost appears to be reasonable at a few hundred dollars, but I'm sure there are lots of other fees involved.



I'm wondering if anyone has a rough idea what I can expect in other costs, time, and paperwork before my motorcycle is on the road down there -- dock fees, port fees, customs fees? I will be riding it home to California, so the bike will only be in Panama probably less than a week. Any advice on the paperwork? Will I need to hire a shipping agent in Panama to get the crate out of customs?



I know people ship to Panama from Columbia all the time, although it seems very common to use air freight for that. Still, perhaps the procedure at the port of entry is similar.



Craig Haggart
Sunnyvale, California

HUBB California volunteer (come to Mariposa in September and say hi!)