Shipments done by Travellers

well the boat was fast taking only 12 days. thats the good part.

again as we seem to do we shipped our battered old workhorses uncrated as part of an LCL shipment.

brenda pretty much refused to give us a break down of the costs as we prefer. but the cost was reasonably competitive against other quotes.

the two bikes and large box came in at 5 M cubed. the total cost covered everything to the wharehouse in the states and even the cost of an xray by US customs.

as for paperwork transworld seemed to have no idea how to fill out any forms. they almost insisted we put our address as "no fixed abode" because we were travellers - surely no way to introduce yourselves to a nervous homeland security immigration and customs. we were generally dissatisfied with the paperwork as as we

Got crate from BMW dealer in Vancouver - they had loads piled up out back. Was fortunate to have a contact with pickup who delivered crate to docks.

Packed and assembled crate myself in the warehouse yard.

Initially the bike was bound for the Philippines which proved impossible. SDV managed to redirect from trans-shipment port of Hong Kong to Singapore for no extra cost. I opted to have it stored in Hong Kong which cost 60 US dollars per week.

SDV handled the formalities in Singapore for 320 Sing Dollars. Warehouse was asking 150 Sing dollars to dispose of crate but I managed to haggle down to 50 - I was lucky though as they had made a mistake with the bill that gave me leverage

Refer to customs requirements listed under border crossings elsewhere but NOTE while you are waiting for your crate, nip over to Johor, Malaysia to buy insurance from Uni-Asia (it is one sixth the cost of Singapore for the same cover) Bus fare to Johor is about a dollar!

In Caracas I wanted to ship with Tampa Airlines which has a recommending description on the shipment page of HU. However Tampa Airlines could not ship because of "problems" in Miami. By asking a little bit around I found Afisa. Nobody speaks english there and they had never transported a motorbike. However they were very eager to help. They did a good job. Afisa is a broker with a lot of contacts. They negotiated the price for me with DHL/Lufthansa, filled in the dangerous good declaration, assisted at customs (which is a nightmare at Maiquetia), organised packing and defended me against the "custom agents" (which are crooks at Maiquetia). My bike arrived on time and undamaged in Miami. If you really have to ship from Caracas - which I cannot recommend because of all the hassle - Afisa is good option.

Ferry from Georgia to Russia

http://www.partireper.it/eng_2005chapt11.htm

http://www.partireper.it/2005chapt11.htm

It takes 6, 7 hours with free loud russian movie on the sreen and no food served.

Ferry from Russia to Japan

http://www.partireper.it/eng_2005chapt12.htm

http://www.partireper.it/2005chapt12.htm

It takes about 3 days and 2 nights.

Food and meals included in the ferry thicket with swimming pool, sauna and russian chickes around...