Dubai to Istanbul - still ridable?
 

Hi everyone, I was planning to ride from Dubai to Istanbul via Saudi, Jordan, Israel, ferry to Cyprus and on to Turkey. Needless to say the pandemic messed up my plans.

So a couple of questions I'd appreciate your thoughts on - any indications that Saudi will open its borders after the Ramadan? And second, suggestions for shipping agents in Istanbul which can process an ocean shipment from Dubai?

Thanks in advance!

There are no indications so far on the Saudi border but definitely it will open in this summer. Most countries declared their tourism resumption plan between mid June ~ beginning of July.

I'm not sure if Jordanian - Israeli border is open before the pandemic also, but there is a ferry from Saudi (Duba port) to Turkey (Iskendrun port).

There is alternative route which is Iran, way better plan and enjoying. Take the ferry from Sharjah and drive all the way to Turkey.

Thanks
ossaimi





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Thanks ossaimi! I looked at the route through Iran and agree that it would be the best one but I don't think my passport makes it a viable option :) So I guess I will have to wait and see when the Saudis open their borders. Please post if you hear/read news to that effect.

Many of us living in the GCC are wishing a route will open up, allowing us to enter turkey and europe. If only Iraq was safe enough to pass freely through it. Nobody that I have heard of has crossed it from the Abrar, Saudi (border is open) all the way to Zakho, Iraq. Northern Iraq they say is safe, but mid northern is a bit sketchy and hard finding info on it. That route is a trade route so truckers are traveling it safely.

The route through duba, saudi and taking the 3-4 day long ferry to iskenderun turkey. They have recently raised there prices up and you will end up paying $7-900 each one way. Not sure if your end of the trip is turkey, but the road from iskenderun, turkey to the greece or bulgarian border is full of tolls. More likely putting the cost of just air shipping the bike about the same.

For me I live on the eastern side of saudi, its about 1,700 km to duba saudi and wait out 4 days in a old poorly maintained ferry, while if the route through iraq was only safe to cross it would be about 100 km less.

Im starting to think think the simplest trouble free route is to, crate the motorcycle put it in a crate and air cargo ship it. In kuwait there is a motorcycle shipper who ships bikes from kuwait to frankfurt germany for $1,300 total one way. Thats everything included and delivered to your door or hotel.

Then theres an air cargo way to where you break down your bike, remove the front wheel and use a build a custom crate yourself, or go to any new bike dealer that may sell you or give you for free a used crate that they received their bikes on. Next you will need a freight forwarder this couple on HU thankfully documented there trip from sudan to turkey. Shipping / Airfreight motorcycle from Sudan to Europe/Turkey They paid each $567 total through turkish air cargo. Pretty sure this can be done in dubai, via any of the major air cargo airlines saudi/flynas/emirate etc. I havent checked the prices in saudi, due to corona virus shutting everything down.

As for entry into saudi they announced june 1 will be for domestic flights and septemeber 1 for international flights. So maybe the borders will open sept 1
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saud....1589813253209

Good points ibidu1.

I did quite a bit of reading on various options, etc. Airfreight (with Turkish Airlines and PayloadCargo as a freightforwarder) came to about $4,800. While the actual weight of the motor and the crate is around 350kg, the chargeable weight is over 700kg and at $6/kg the numbers got scary big.

Ocean shipping is cheaper. A company called Berlin Motors can get the motor to Istanbul for about $1500 in 17 days. The problem is they don't have offices in Istanbul and I have to find someone to do the customs clearance and local handling there, which will likely add another $1000 or so.

I will keep looking for other freight forwarders for both air and ocean shipping and see if Emirates or other ocean carriers can provide more attractive options.

Again, your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

I found this on the turkish air cargo website. Maybe you can give them a ring and see


General Sales Agency

Company Name : AL NABOODAH TRAVEL & TOURISM AGENCIES LLC

Email : niaz.abdulsalam@alnaboodah.com

Address : Ground floor, Block C Al Shoala Building Al Ittihad Street P.O. Box 1200 Dubai UAE

Phone : +971 4 211 2500, 294 0099

I know that you may have the “wrong” passport for Iran but have you considered either getting a guide - I have no idea how much one would cost - or hiring a van and driver to take you from one border to the other. Possibly cheaper than flying and you get to see some of the country / meet a few locals.

Also, are you are able to get the “right” passport - if you aren’t against the clock at this point - and let’s face it, most of us have too much time on our ands att he moment - then it may be possible to do something.

These are in fact the guys I contacted after checking the THY website. So that turned out to be a dead end. Still waiting for Emirates to get back to me. Given it's Eid time it will likely take another few days before that happens. Will post if something comes out of that discussion.

Jay, thanks for the suggestion. The funny part is I've been to Iran in 2004 and everything was great..the people, the sites and yes, I did have a guide with me at all time, which was fine. So I am very tempted to try that route for the reasons you and ossaimi shared. I guess I will try my luck at their consulate in Dubai after Eid and see how it goes. A guide will be mandatory and a van is good idea as well, just in case.

I have a saudi passport am I allowed into iran with a motorcycle to do a transit to turkey? I googled and Iran will issue a visa, but does saudi or the rest of the gcc allow its citizens to enter?

Many Saudis travel to Iran but by air through Kuwait, Qatar or Oman and I haven't seen by sea or land so far or heard at least.

If I'm at your shoes, i wouldn't risk my self driving there. As the relation between the two countries a bit shaky.

I'm Kuwaiti and 100% sure we can travel to Iran without an issue and in fact, there are weekly ferries between the two.

Wait for the Turkish ferry better.

Have a nice day.

Ahmad

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The duba saudi to turkey ferry seems like a lot of issues to deal with.
1. 1700km for me to travel to duba, 3,400km round trip
2. $700-$900 dollars x2, since they raised the prices to $1,400-1,800 round trip
3. spending a night in duba (which sucks), and then waiting atleast 5-10 hours for the ferry to load up
4. 4 days for the travel, stuck in a dorm style room with no working bathrooms :nuke:
5. once you arrive in turkey, then you need to hire someone to finish your paperwork. Then hire a taxi to go outside and purchase insurance.

The kuwait/Iran not positive the kuwait route allows vehicles like the sharjah location. https://www.irantravelingcenter.com/...ian-gulf-iran/
1. 400km x2 800km
2. $66 passenger $100 motorcycle x2 $332 total round trip
3. 1 night in kuwait (which is nice)
4. 1/2 day ferry trip
5. You have to have a carnet/trip ticket to enter iran, this is a bummer
6. The distance from Khorramshahr, iran to turkish border is 1,500km x2 not too bad
7. who knows how much turkey charges to cross border on a motorcycle
8. Like you mentioned dealing with the political issues, I do recall there were saudi citizens returning from iran when the first corona virus was announced. Of course if I chose this route I will need to get approval or an ok.

Actually the kuwait route does not allow vehicles only the sharjah.

Yesterday I phoned the Turkey Ferry and it is still not operating that route.

Then I phoned a forward air shipper and he quoted me 14.5 sar/uad per kilo + whatever fees turkey charges.

I think the ferry suffered a fire last year and has been out of action since.

There was (pre-COVID) a ferry from Tripoli (Lebanon) to Tasucu (Turkey) but check what the requirements are for you to enter Syria. For Europeans a guided tour is necessary to get a visa, and nobody as far as I know has taken in a vehicle recently. I was planning on giving it a try last year but work commitments got in the way.

EO

He called me back a day later and said he found an air shipper that can do 11.50 SAR per kilo, thats Dammam Saudi, to Istanbul

Entering Syria is too risky for me... I wish the middle east had a safe passage, if only Iraq can get their act together and provide security, many tourist would flock to iraq

If only they could get their visa system together!

Finally got a quote from Emirates for shipping the motor to Istanbul:

Freight Charges: AED 14.75/kgs (Dangerous Goods rate)
Fuel Surcharge: NA
Documentation and Customs fee: AED 550.00 (Approximate)
Dangerous Goods Handling Fee: AED 350.00
Applicable chargeable weight will be 750 kgs.

All in all it tallies up to almost 12,000 AED or north of $3,200, and that's without the fees on the receiving end. So air shipping isn't really a viable route for me. Most likely will end up using the ocean shipping route. It's slower but only half the cost of airfreight. Unless by some miracle the countries in the region open their borders in July and I get a chance to ride to Istanbul. Time will tell :)

On Instagram reach out to this motorcycle shipper in kuwait. "ilogist1" His name is Abdullah and he mainly ships from Kuwait to Frankfurt Germany. He charges 400 kuwait dinar, which is 4,771 uae. Basically you just drop off your bike, or he maybe able to arrange a pick up in uae. He handles all the paperwork and the price is for everything, and your bike delivered to your hotel. I know he ships to Istanbul, but I never asked him.

What dates in july? im still waiting on purchasing a new bike and planning a trip around july/august. So maybe we can split a shipping container, if its priced good

Thanks for the suggestion, ibidu1. Unfortunately, I can't get the motor to Kuwait. After a long a tortuous process of finding ways to ride out, I decided to ship the motor via ship to Germany - Bremerhaven. The freight and export docs are under 1,000 AED and customs clearance, etc. at the receiving end in Germany are about 450 euros. I will post more details about the shipping experience once the motor is loaded and on its way. The plans is to fly out to Germany, pick the motorcycle and ride as far ease as I can go without having to spend yet another 2 weeks in quarantine. See how far I can reach :)

Awesome thats a better deal! Keep us updated im curious what the end cost will be, germany is a nice location to be in :D

Ok, finally something to update the group on. I was able to ship the motor from Dubai to Brenerhaven, Germany. Took roughly 5 weeks door to door. Everything worked out as planned. Will post all details of the process, including pictures, etc. in the Shipping forum. COVID be damned, we will ride no matter what! :)

Awesome news glad you made it! Let us know what all the costs were, have a safe trip.

btw that shipper in kuwait is offering shared cargo shipping to and from germany for about 1900 uad with all paperwork and taxes/fees included. But hes in kuwait and far from uae.

Theres a guy named steven that does the storage, hotel, mechanic, and shipping to and from germany. So God forbid your in a bind, let me know and ill try to look up his details

ibidu1 thanks for the info. It does feel good to be able to ride again :) Here's the info I would like to share in case anyone is interested in my experience:

The company I used to ship the motor from Dubai to Bremerhaven (Germany) is Berlin Motors. The person I interacted with was Joice Delariarte and she can be reached at +971 56 537 8704. The company took care of the crating and loading of the motor in Dubai (I rode the motor to their warehouse myself and supervised the process personally) and all associated formalities (stamping the CPD, customs inspections, etc.)

A word of caution, if you decide to ship a motorcycle or car, do not include any personal effects (clothing, etc.) as you'll have to pay import duties in Germany.

The total cost to get the motor on the ship was AED 1,896

OCEAN FREIGHT EX JEBEL ALI TO BREMERHAVEN - 1,106
CRATING CHARGES - 450
INSPECTION CHARGES - 190
INSPECTION HANDLING CHARGES - 150

The ship left Dubai Aug 13 and arrived in Bremerhaven on Sep 15. I received the motor on Sep 19 after it was cleared by Customs. As I had CPD issued in Dubai I didn't have to pay import duties. The cost of getting the motor processed in Germany I paid 325 euros to the import agent who worked for Berlin Motors.

The motor arrived without any damages or scratches, exactly as it was put on the palette in Dubai.

Happy to answer you questions.

Ride safe!

Nice! Im glad everything arrived safely and undamaged. So the total you paid to cargo ship.

OCEAN FREIGHT EX JEBEL ALI TO BREMERHAVEN - 1,106
CRATING CHARGES - 450
INSPECTION CHARGES - 190
INSPECTION HANDLING CHARGES - 150
GERMANY AGENT - 1388

total 3,284 uae + green card insurance or was that included with the German agent? Us saudi's we are still stuck in the country until jan 1 so no traveling for me until after that

Here is the shop that specializes in bike storage/mechanical/hotel/ green card insurance/ and majority of his customers are from the middle east, so he ships your bike for you trouble free. Hes in central germany in a city called heidelberg

Welcome

Let's hope restrictions get relaxed so we can more easily travel overseas. The Green Card for Europewide insurance was separate and cost me roughly 100 AED per month. Some countries, like Austria also demand a sticker which was about 6 euro per week.