US to Europe shipping with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics
 

I'm looking to ship my bike from east coast USA to Europe this summer (2014) and have been contacting all kinds of shippers. The two choices are air freight cargo and sea cargo. While I'd like to ship air freight, it's just too damn expensive for me (lowest cost I've found so far is just over $2k). On the other hand, I've received quotes from multiple shippers for less than $1k to a little over $2k for sea cargo.

Right now my best option (with regard to: price, shipping pick up & drop off location, timing, etc...) looks like 2wGlobal, Wallenius Wilhemlsen Logistics. Has anyone ever used their services to ship their bike, car, etc...?

Also, if you have suggestions of other shippers I should check in with that you yourself have used with good results, please post up.

Thanks!

Check out Aladdin Freight in Oakland California.

Hi XC Rider,

Have you settled on a shipper yet? I'm also looking to ship my bike to Europe this summer, and would appreciate any information/leads you might have.

Thanks,
Smitty

I shipped my KLR from Liverpool to Norfolk,Va last September. Like you,I wanted to fly the bike. And it was twice as much. 680 pounds. See post #352 at the below link.
Russia,Mongolia,Ukraine.....Netherlands on a KLR - Page 12 - ADVrider

Shipping areas are restricted areas. In Liverpool they had a van that took me, and later escorted me on the bike, to there staging area. In Norfolk I had to pay for an escort-$150 rip off. If I had known, Boochdog (ADVrider) at the docks, could have saved me that bill.

Post #383 on the next page has some info from Norfolk. I know you are going the other direction,but it will be similar.

I shipped my bike from the UK to Canada and back a couple of years ago, it was arranged by HC travel using a ro-ro ferry. It was simple, efficient and not too expensive, I believe they also go to and presumably from the US, I would recommend them.
Seafreight

Thanks Doogle and Mark. I'll check your recommendations out.

Smitty

Mark:

Is it necessary to use HC Travel to arrange UK-Canada shipment with this ferry operator, or is it possible to contact the ferry operator directly? Do you recall what the name of the ferry operator was?

Michael

Ro-Ro USA to Europe
 

I have used Wallenius... from Elizabeth, NJ to Bremerhaven. For USD 700 + USD 100 each end for forwarding services. Transit time is only 11 days. (AirCargo will still take 3 - 5 days)
If you use air fright or container ship,, make sure you contact local Harley or BMW dealer and get a FREE aluminium pallet.
It is a basic flat pallet with tie downs and covered with a card board box, very light. NO NEED to pay for the crating service ,, NO need to pay for uncrating and disposal of the box fees at the arrival port,, as many ports demand this. Even Wendy (HUBB forwarder in Korea) ,, oh yes her firm charged me 150 for this and I did all the work and my hand had many scratches, with out the proper tool. It was Friday ,, schmucks went home early! Avoid wooden crates!

With Wallenius,, I've shipped the bike on MS Thonborg from Incheon, Korea ,, it let off my bike in Long Beach ,, and went to Panama.. while I crossed the USA, same ship after having did the Panama and Jacksonville was waiting for me again, at New Jersey. She took my bike to Bremerhaven.
No ferry service exists between USA and Europe. You do not ride on the ship with your vehicles. You fly.

Benefits of Ro-Ro ,,
1) No crating ,, saves you 300 - 800 dollars. (800 in European continent)
2) No need to empty the fuel tank.
3) Load all your gear and personal items on the bike and ship.
4) Easy drive on and off ,, cheap stevedoring or handling charge. (USD 30)
5) No customs area holding for goods inspection. Your manifest is good enough. (Bill of Ladding) Very fast customs clearance.
Getting hold of a freighter forwarder (Think of them as a travel agent) or direct quote request to the liner is same. Forwarder gets paid 2.5 - 5% commission ,, but they will make sure you have proper documents and export documentation ,, in case of Elizabeth, New Jersey ,, the actual loading dock and the US customs is 15 minute drive away ,, you can call a taxi ,, but on the way out you are screwed for a ride again. I've used Korea Express USA with offices in Elizabeth. LA and Chicago (Sam Sung group) ,, for 100 bucks,,, they did all the booking ,, documents ,, drove me to the US customs ,, went in together ,, then brought us back to the docks to hand over US Customs declaration ,,, after took me to the NJ Transit for me to catch a bus back to Manhattan. Most of US forwarders will never do this. (Mention my name and Tony below will meet you at the loading dock, with your bike. Wallenius guy will tell you where to park in the bonded area. The gate is then locked. Make sure you have TWO keys,, one for the shipping line guys so they can drive the bike up the boat and one on you as an emergency. I've always carried extra everything around my neck)

Tony Chon / FMS
D. General Manager
Korea Express U.S.A., Inc
11 Commerce CT West
Cranbury, NJ 08512
T)609-860-3070, F)609-395-9771
D)609-860-3094, C)201-988-2886
tony(at)keusa.com

DO NOT SHIP TO BREMERHAVEN!
You will be required to leave a 30% of the value of your bike as a deposit to EU customs. You get it back on the day you leave EU again..i.e., at the non EEC border. (Russia, Turkey, Moldova etc) You have to get a stamp then send it back to Bremerhaven and takes 15 days or so for you to get either cash back or your credit card refunded. This is only happening at Bremerhaven! (Their argument was that so many vehicles comes in and never leaves. i.e., my Harley in US is ca 18,000 , in Europe about 28,000 ,, in Korea 34,000 ,, in Thailand USD 56,000 ,, in Russia 58,000 American dollars! )

I was on my way to pay this but when I saw Stellag 16 type cops at the gate,, just drove off and hauled ass out of there, while they were shooting bull and laughing. They wanted USD 4,800 on my Harley Davidson but negotiated it down to USD 3200. Many Russians bringing Mercedes and Ferraris from USA gets stuck here.
Go read my Bremerhaven saga here.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-customs-56885


Send it to UK ports, French ports, Dutch or Belgian ports only. (Liverpool, Felixtow,Les Harve, Antwerp, Rotterdam)
There are other Ro-Ro carriers doing same route.
https://www.google.co.kr/search?q=ro...m=122&ie=UTF-8

Also in the HUBB ,, tons of info ,,,

Search | Horizons Unlimited

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/sea...o+ro+to+Europe

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/sea...o+ro+to+Europe
Good luck.

Wow SeoulJoe... great info. Thanks!

Would you mind if I contact you directly, if I have more questions?

Thanks again,

Smitty
celticlad@earthlink.net

Great info from Seouljoe. :thumbup1:

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics is a joint venture between Wallenius who operate the ro-ro ferries and Wilhelmsen who liaise with private customers. There's an article in this month's Adventure Bike Rider magazine (UK mag) in which the author used this line. From US to Europe was £650, insurance and recovery another £150. You should have less than a quarter tank of fuel, and that's it.

Wallenius has a long history of cross-Atlantic ro-ro and my BMW Z3 (built at Spartanburg, South Carolina) came over on route.

The British Ministry of Defence chartered Wallenius' Atlantic Conveyor ro-ro ferry during the Falklands War but it was sunk after being hit by an Exocet missile.

Thanks Tim,

I'll check out the article, if I can access it.

Currently, I'm struggling between Motorcycle Express and Waleneus Wilhelmsen.

'Smitty'
celticlad@earthlink.net

Have you considered buying in Europe?

Hi WheatWacker,

No. I have not considered buying in Europe. My wife has suggested this, but I have an attachment to my motorcycle. The attachment is two-fold. Firstly I know how to maintain/repair my KLR. Secondly I am confident that it is a dependable bike.

Having said that, it still might be more cost-effective to buy a bike after I get to Europe. A friend of mine - Carla King - has had good experiences with buying bikes in the destination country.

Thanks for the suggestion WheatWacker

Smitty

Well, speaking of KLR's i have a 2002 for sale here with 12,000 miles in mint condition.

Hey WheatWacker... how much, and where is it?

Firstly, it's wheatwhacker, not wheatwacker :)
The seller was asking for 2,300. After some negotiations, I have got him to 2000 even.
The guy selling it is a copper. He has no idea about the Doohickey so I presume it needs to be done.
It's the only one for sale in Ireland and the UK that I know of.

Anybody interested??

I am shipping with Hc travel via RoRo ship and its £595 per bike, but stipulate's that you can't have the bike loaded with all your gear. It can have boxes on but nothing in them. They have to be able to inspect / search the bike and stops anything being stolen or broken.

You're right. It is probably the only real downside of using a RoRo service. We had the same issue in 2006 (airfreight) and 2009 (RoRo). We managed though, by using very light pvc Musto yachting bags which are strong enough to travel as check-in bags on our flight and pack down into their own neat stuff bag when we picked up the bikes the other end. (Helmets went in a small backpack as cabin baggage and we wore our bike jackets to save space in the luggage. Only real issue was also having to wear our m/c boots onto the plane, but as soon as we were seated, we kicked them off in favour of a pair of cosy flight socks!)

Here's how the Musto bags worked ...

I've shipped my motorcycle back and forth across the Atlantic by air several times, and the rules for air shipping are the same as for ro/ro ferries: All the saddlebags/panniers are supposed to be empty.

Having said that, I have always stuffed the saddlebags/panniers full of soft clothing, and declared that when I have dropped the bike off at the air freight shed (the process being more or less like this: "Are all the saddlebags empty like they are supposed to be?" ... "Yes, they are empty, except that there is a little bit of soft clothing in them" (the truth being that they are stuffed full with clothing).

I think that the shipping companies are primarily concerned about dangerous goods (camping stoves, flammables, etc.) being put in the panniers, or concerned with heavy objects being placed in the panniers, which is why they impose the "empty saddlebags" rule in the first place. My experience has been that the person who accepts the bike doesn't care if the saddlebags are stuffed with obviously harmless and relatively lightweight contents such as soft clothing.

Michael

In my case,, when I air cargoed via DHL from Frankfurt to Inchon, I placed excess stuff on the corner of the pallet,, no problems there. Also on the ro-ro from Korea to Long Beach and New Jersey to Bremen,,, I had my tools, winter clothing in the luggage boxes, with a soft bag full of daily stuff, hung over the back sisi bar,, was no problem. Also in the wooden crate coming from Milano to Busan, I placed all my excess bags in the wooden box. It seems ,, forwarder's declared manifest is what they go by.
You have to play it by the ear.

It makes sense
 

As a well known (in Australia) retired Aussie Rules footballer says "You know it makes sense." It's a bit of a no brainer really to buy a bike in situ and avoid the cost (dead loss) and hassle of freighting a bike overseas.
That is why I bought a bike in the USA for my American travels instead of freighting my bike.
However some of us develop an affinity with a bike and wish to stick with it through thick and thin, even though it is just a bucket of bolts. Weird I know, is it just me? I find it easy to buy a bike, but difficult to sell it.
So now I have a bike currently in Europe which I wish to ship to America and then home to Australia to complete it's RTW, and the bike currently in Alaska will eventually end up in Europe after I've satisfied my American desires. I think I will always need a bike in Europe.
However, as suggested in this thread, I think I will use RORO sea freight like Wallenius or HC Travel, as this method is cheaper than air freight and less bureaucratic than sea container freight. Have I at least got that bit right?
Cheers,
Mark.

BTW, as far as I am aware, HC Travel only act as an agent for Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Don't know, but it might be more cost effective to deal direct with WW. (I did in June 2007. Soton to Halifax, NS. Dead easy.)

.

Going to Korea,I shipped my bike from Vancouver,Canada because they have different rules for transport. Panniers and top box were full,but strapped to the pallet.

When I shipped my bike from Buenos Aries to the USA,I had to haul most everything with me on the plane. Panniers and top box were strapped to the pallet also. But the USA has different regulations.

Thanks everyone. I finally settled on Motorcycle Express. They're flying my bike from Toronto, Canada to Dublin, Ireland for US$ 2170. The quoted price was US$2195 - US$50 HU discount - US$25 earl-bird special (?) - US$(?) 50 for postage, so the total price was US$2170.

Motorcycle Express' associated travel agency got me a seat on the same plane for ~US$700. So total was ~US$3000.

One thing I don't like is I was told that I can not load anything in my bike. This creates the problem of having to carry everything onto the plane. Which means an excess baggage charge. Everything being my spares and tools... bummer.

Smitty

Well done.
Dublin is 3 hours from me. Don't forget to call in.

Thanks Wheatwhacker. Send me your address and I will...
Celticlad@earthlink.net

I have family in County Roscommon that I am looking forward to visiting also.,

That KLR is still for sale.
If nobody here wants it, it's going on the local classifieds where it will last maybe a day for sale.

Mark ,, yes it makes very good economic sense, to buy use and resell. However, in my case,, since there are only three Koreans, who have done the RTW, including my self,, I felt that it was a national honour, to have my Korean license plate, to show proudly,, to the people of this world.
Indeed there are some 60 Koreans, who have done Trans-Siberia, some Europe back to Korea,, most of the case they all took their own bikes. I believe lot of Japanese riders feel same way. As a matter of progression,, soon we will see Chinese bikers doing same,, then Indians ,, then Africans ,, on and on.
:scooter:

The KLR has been sold

Wallenius Wilhemlsen Logistics will be good option
 

Yes it would be good choice to with Wallenius Wilhemlsen Logistics service, I have heard about there service from my close friends.