Air Canada Cargo ship M/C to Casablanca
 

I am planning a trip to Morocco with my own bike. Air Canada is having a promo of approx. $1200 to Casablanca. Since I have never done this type of thing before, looking for some guidance on what paperwork is required beforehand to ride in Morocco etc. I will be in Morocco for 3-4 weeks before taking ferry to Spain and riding up to Ireland.

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

I don't know the specific procedures at the airport in Casablanca, but I assume they're similar to arriving by ferry. I'd certainly ask Air Canada, since they'll want to make sure you're able to get your bike released. On the other hand, watch out for personnel who so much want to give you answers that they'll make something up rather than admit they don't know.

General requirements entering Morocco: the bike ownership should be in your name, and you should carry all original ownership docs. You'll need to purchase insurance valid in Morocco, which is sometimes included on an EU green card, sometimes not. Since you'll need a green card anyway, best look into this. If it's not included, purchase locally (at significant expense--I recollect about a hundred euros per month). That's about it. The Moroccan government is overly fond of its procedures and paperwork, so expect a bit of time-consuming fussing around once on the ground.

Watch out for radar traps on expressways, and carry a supply of fiches if heading south along the coast. That aside, don't fret--it's not so different from riding around at home, although cheaper, friendlier, and significantly more fun (sez I).

Oh, and when asking such questions it's sometimes helpful to give your nationality, since some rules differ depending on your passport.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Be aware that Air Canada's service to Casablanca is seasonal and does not operate all year round. I was in Morocco two weeks ago, and thought of sending my moto back home by AC - only to find that the next flight wasn't scheduled for several months.

Mark covered the main points in his post above. My experience with Moroccan customs (and Moroccan officials in general) has always been that they are quite polite and happy to see visitors, but you need to have the 't's crossed and the 'i's dotted on all your paperwork. In other words, make sure you have the original copy of the ownership document, a passport with at least 6 months validity remaining, your driver's licence, etc. with you when you go to clear the bike from customs.

I know you can buy insurance for Morocco at the sea ports of entry easily - it costs about €91 for one month. Hopefully you can buy it at or near the airport also, but I don't know this for sure... you might have to go into the city to get it. Don't ride without insurance (even once, from the airport to the city), there are lots and lots of police spot checks on the road.

If you are presently in Canada, send me a private message with your phone number & I'll give you a call and explain - I just got back from a month of riding there and I'm pretty up to date on the procedures.

Michael

Not at all.
Flying a motorcycle into Casa or any Moroccan airport is extremely unusual, as is shipping by sea (a much worse idea).
Airports are set up for air passengers and cargo, not vehicle imports (which can only include motorcycles) so do not expect to be out of there within a day, maybe longer, unless you have good local contacts.

If you have lots of time, speak a bit of French and don't mind such challenges, it might all be part of the adventure, but I suspect you could simplify things greatly by flying it into southern Spain while using a an air freight agency specialising in bikes. Do Morocco and then come back for the rest of your trip.
I am sure Spain is not such an unusual destination for North American bikes.
Easier still - language wise - would be UK or Ireland. Shippio and Moto Freight are 2 names which spring to mind. Ask them about Spain.

For Morocco, all the vehicle paperwork - temp import, insurance - is there at the regular ferry ports. Tan Med port is recommended.
More here.

YES, that is very helpful!! I will contact the Moroccan embassy in Toronto to ensure I have the proper paperwork. I will also see if I can get a green card from one of the European embassies before going overseas.

Thank you for all your great suggestions/tips!

Yes, your are quite right...Air Canada ships bikes from April 1 to September 30. Adventure Rider Radio just had a segment on shipping bikes with Air Canada to various European cities including Morocco. They were interviewing the manager of Air Canada's Cargo Motorcycle program. There was some excellent suggestions and the segment was followed with an interview with our own Grant Johnson of HU.

Thanks for your feedback and I will PM you shortly.

Thanks,
Al

You make a lot of good points regarding language. I don't speak French or Arabic. Air Canada has been flying to Morocco for 5 years, so, I hope the program has been established to make clearing customs smoother. Unfortunately, Spain was taken off A/C's list because Spain will not accept motorcycles that are uncrated. The beauty of A/C Cargo is, after the bike has been cleared with a Dangerous Goods certificate, you ride the bike to the A/C terminal and they take it from there. The bike is placed on a aluminum "cookie sheet" and tied down for transport.

I will check out the other shippers that you suggested.

Thank you!
Al

The Green Card referred to is a document issued by motor insurance companies to show that your bike is insured for a particular company.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-balkans-87473

See post 8

Happy trails,

Peter

Kruzzin,

You can check also with motorcycle express. They ship to many destinations for slightly more than Air Canada but you can ship at any time. They have no restriction from May to September like Air Canada. They do ship to Spain. You can have a quote online within a minute or two.

I did ship to Paris with them. I just dropped the bike. No need to crate the bike. I could not leave any gear on the bike. That is a plus for Air Canada. They used Air Transat for that flight.

Custom in Paris was easy. They just asked you how long you will be in Europe. They make photocopies of your documents. You pay about 80-90euros and you are gone within 30min.

About customs in Morocco, definitely have all your documents in order. At the land border, they did not want to accept my original bike registration. Here in Quebec, our paper is really tiny like a credit card. It took a while for the custom to accept it. I never had problems with that before.

As for the green card, the cheapest way is using the services of Welcome to motosapiens.org | motosapiens.org

Allow enough time to receive your papers.


Patrick

But among the regular air freight how many travellers' motorcycles have they actually shipped?

Air freighting a motorcycle has become a great idea, but Morocco is not a European city; it is a country in Africa with strict importation rules to avoid foreign vehicles getting sold locally on the side. Look at the hassle some other guy on this forum has recently had trying to import a new engine into Morocco. Or another guy whose car was destroyed and abandoned in a desert fire. He had to negotiate some dumb customs tax to legitimise the wreck.

I would see if you can get in touch with the manager of Air Canada's Cargo Motorcycle program from the radio show and ask how the last person who did what you are planning got on in Casa. They will be a great resource. That is why moto freight specialists, as opposed to the cargo arm of airlines, can be more useful. Motorcycle Express work out of Canada, afaik.

Cargo clearance is all very well, but you also need to temporarily import (TVIP) and insure a vehicle for road use. I doubt Casa airport will have a clue about that. In Panama City or Quito/Bogota that has become fairly normal (or the procedures are widely shared). In Morocco I have never heard of it on this forum (though I'm sure it has been asked before).

Like everything, it's all doable with time and money and stress.
I wouldn't be surprised it it involves going up to Tangiers port to get the TVIP.

I know from personal experience that the frontier insurance for foreign vehicles has become very hard to get at regular Assurance offices like Axa in Moroccan towns and cities.
You can of course try and get your own Green Card for Morocco off your domestic insurance. Europeans get it easily enough for bikes. Brits no longer do.

@Kruzzin5 I am a Canadian living in Paris. Will be travelling to Morocco about mid May with a crew to spend a 10 days cruising around Marakesh.


If you are around then, let me know, if our paths cross maybe we can share a beer.




Fyi there are boats from Barcelona to Tangier. Still, probably not that difficult to fly into Casa and be off. Air Canada wouldnt have managed Casa if it was untenable.


Chris

Al:

You are completely misunderstanding the "green card" issue. A green card is a proof of insurance document issued by European insurance companies.

For Morocco, you buy insurance for foreign vehicles at the port at which you enter the country. In your case, because it is not known whether insurance is available at the airport (as opposed to the sea port, where there are numerous booths selling insurance as soon as you get off the boat), you might need to buy the insurance well ahead of time, before you leave Canada, with a start date effective the day you intend to arrive.

We can discuss the whole process in more detail during our phone call this weekend (I sent you a PM).

Michael

Hi Chris:

I'm not quite as pessimistic as you about the ability to process temporary importation of a vehicle at CMN (Casablanca airport), for the following reasons:

1) As you know, Morocco has recently implemented a fully computerized system for recording temporary (touristic) vehicle imports. This means that the customs staff at the airport will have full access to this - they won't be caught in a situation where "they don't have the appropriate forms".

2) Although it is possible that not very many motorcycles enter Morocco via the airport, one heck of a lot of motor vehicles do (think of wealthy Saudis who have villas in Morocco). Hence I suspect that the customs people at the airport will have some familiarity with temporary importation of foreign vehicles, and a motorcycle is a vehicle.

3) Although Air Canada does not facilitate warehousing or customs processing of motorcycle shipments (their responsibility to the customer ends when the cargo reaches the warehouse at the airport), I do suspect that Air Canada will have confirmed that it is practical to import a vehicle this way.

Your point about the OP (Al) contacting AC in Toronto to inquire about the success of previous shipments to CMN is well taken.

Michael

I'm not going to argue that it won't be simpler to follow the well-trodden path, which is shipping into Europe and ferrying to Morocco. But I'm not convinced it'll be all THAT much more difficult using Air Canada directly into CMN. Maybe I've grown too blasé about untangling bureaucratic clusterforks in faraway lands where I don't speak the language.

Selfishly, I hope the OP tries it out and reports back to tell us how it went. From your perspective Kruzzin5, I suggest you go ahead and commit to one course of action or the other only once you're ready, accept any difficulties as hugely educational, and not look back.

Your misunderstandings about the nature of green card insurance suggests that you continue accumulating basic information before making that commitment. That's perfectly fine, as long as you stay reasonably humble. In any case, please feel entirely free to prove me (or Chris) wrong, if that's what it comes to.

Hope that's helpful. Safe journeys!

Mark

Yes, I hope so too. Then the whole process becomes less opaque for those that follow.

OK, here's the update on Al (Kruzzin5) & his plans to ship his motorcycle:

I spoke with Al on the telephone tonight (he only lives a few miles away from me, north of Toronto) and we discussed the logistics of his plans.

To successfully import the motorcycle to Morocco via shipping it by Air Canada to CMN (Casablanca airport), Al needs three things:

1) Appropriately stamped passport with Moroccan police number in it - he'll get that when he goes through regular passenger processing at CMN;

2) Proof of ownership of the motorycycle - he has that, it's the same document I have used several times when I have entered Morocco at Tanger Med, and;

3) Proof of insurance valid in Morocco.

It's arguable that he might not need proof of insurance to simply clear the moto out of customs (strictly speaking, the customs officials are not responsible for road traffic law enforcement), but he'll need insurance to ride the motorcycle out of the airport area, and it is likely that there is no booth selling insurance for foreign vehicles at the airport.

That means that he needs to get the insurance document ahead of time, and have it in his hand before he leaves Canada, so he can show it to the Customs officials (if they ask for it) when he goes to clear the motorcycle out of customs.

In theory, it should be easy to get the insurance ahead of time. He's not travelling until the end of May, so, he has lots of time. What I think he needs to do is communicate with an insurance company that insures foreign tourists visiting Morocco with their vehicles, and arrange and pay for his insurance ahead of time, with an effective date the same date as his planned arrival in Morocco, then have the insurance company mail the policy document to him in Canada.

To do this, he needs to know what company to contact. If I had not thrown out my Moroccan insurance document when I got home last week, I could have given him the information from my document. But, I threw it out.

Does anyone out there have a current (or recently issued, within the last 6 months) Moroccan insurance document handy? If so, would you please post the contact details for the insurance company (not the agent at the port who sold the policy) here on this thread, so Al can get the insurance process underway?

We discussed the possibility of shipping the motorcycle into Lisbon instead, and riding down to Morocco, but economically, that makes no sense. Even in a worst-case situation, if Al can't get insurance ahead of time and has to hire a grand taxi to take him to and from Tanger Med port to buy insurance, that will be cheaper than the costs associated with flying into Lisbon and riding down to Algeciras and taking the ferry to Morocco.

Spain is out of consideration, because the Spanish have advised Air Canada that they won't accept motorcycle shipments by air freight unless the motorcycle is crated. It's a dumb requirement, but each country has the right to impose their own rules on air freight.

Al plans on riding up to Ireland after touring Morocco, and then shipping the bike back to Canada. I have suggested that he get in touch with Dooby to arrange European insurance coverage for when he leaves Morocco - this because I don't know if there are vendors at the Algeciras port who sell insurance policies for out-of-Europe vehicles. There probably are, but what their hours are, what they charge, and how competent they are I do not know.

So, does anyone have the contact details for a Moroccan insurance company handy?

Michael

Great discussing Morocco and shipping with you Michael...THANK YOU!!!

This forum is such a wealth of information especially for 1st timers like me. Unfortunately, there is no "playbook" on what steps to take etc. So, one must seek the help of others and share information as it is found. So, let me pass this lead on to all of you....I was referred to a local business in Casa that offers M/C insurance for Morocco and Green Card for Europe. They can send within 10 business days, BUT, allow 30 days just in case of delays etc. I just sent them an email to clarify that they provide insurance for Morocco as rates were not listed. For Europe, the price is 120 euros for 90 days. They also run a B&B are highly rated on Trip Advisor. Name below.

Stara Elena Biker B&B Granitovo
https://staraelena.weebly.com/
staraelenabnb@gmail.com


I spoke with Motorcycle Express as well. They are out of South Carolina with a Quebec connection. Pricing is in U.S. $$. They DO NOT fly into Morocco. Lisbon or Barcelona were the closest ports and 1 way is $1350 U.S with Air Transat. They look after everything including DGC, customs paperwork etc. They can also arrange for a green card. They then refer you to a travel agency in Quebec (Canadian $$) for your flight. In my case, it was $714 one way to Lisbon. I asked Motorcycle Express if they had a rep at the airport if something goes wrong claiming the bike. They confirmed that someone is available if there are problems. He also confirmed that I CAN send my clothes with the bike. A lot more money that A/C but, it is supposed to be a hassle free experience.

I am leaning the A/C route for cost/time. Hoping I can get an email confirmation from Stara Elena on bike insurance OR, as Michael suggested someone else in Casa.

I will keep everyone updated as to my progress. Or lack thereof. lol

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!!!
Al

WOW, very well explained!!!
Thanks Michael!!!

That would be awesome! i'll let you know how things progress.

Thanks,

So a TVIP is issued over the counter at Casa airport?
Along with the CIN, I would have thought this is the key thing when you leave the country.

No reason why it couldn't be issued if Casa Customs computers are connected nationwide.
But from my experience officials' responsibilities are so often territorial in heavily bureaucratic countries: 'Oh we can't do that here. You have to go to x y z'.


Stara Elena is in Bulgaria, no?
But if they can offer Morocco and Europe insurance, great.

Just a note following a traveller I was helpings problems recently. Somehow they ended up in Marrakech with no insurance, it proved impossible for them to get insurance for a foreign vehicle in Marrakech despite having the contact details for the Moroccan company that provides this.

They eventually managed to get some in Zagora. It seems that insurance for foreign vehicles is much easier to obtain at the ports than anywhere else. Penalties for not having insurance are pretty severe if you get caught

(PS for info and support in Ireland get in touch with the lads a Donegal Overlanders on Facebook, great group, very friendly and love to meet foreign travellers)

Here's the Moroccan insurance certificate from my last trip entering via Tanger Med port. https://i1012.photobucket.com/albums...g/IMG_3822.gif
In the past I've also bought temporary motor insurance from Wafa Assurance in Meknes. the have branches nationwide. https://www.wafaassurance.ma/fr

Good luck,

Peter

Good to know that you can now ship your gear with your bike.

From my point of view the added value of Motorcycle Express is that you can ship anytime of the year. I tried shipping with Air Canada outside the May-September window. I was quoted 4400$. If that time window fits your needs, then yes, that is the cheapest option.

If someone wants to enjoy cooler temperature in the desert, they can leave in March/ beginning of April for a slightly higher shipping cost with Motorcycle Express.

Patrick

Hi Chris:

Likely not at the passenger terminal (what I think of when I read "over the counter"), but almost certainly at the customs office in the freight area of the airport.

The customs officers who work in freight terminals (worldwide, not just Morocco) generally have a far more diverse range of experience than the officers who work at border crossings that cater to individual travellers.

Tanger Med might be an exception to the above, because in addition to being a border crossing for individual travellers, it's also a major freight terminal. My guess is that the customs guys get rotated around, doing vehicles with travellers for a while, then doing containers and car carriers for a while, then doing bulk freighters, etc.

Michael

Hi Michael,

thanks for recommendation, much appreciated.

We're able to issue coverage for Canadian motorcycle/car/expedition truck and send it to desired address anywhere in world.
For sure hard copy will be needed to get the bike from the customs as fastest as possible as not to allow customs to charge the warehouse fees outside of free time window.

Either PM me or send us an email:

borderinsurance@lobagola.com

One of our clients air freighted from Casablanca last year, he used Aviva.

We're working on providing coverage for northern African countries for some time now, hopefully we will have a solution asap.

Cheers
Dooby

Al:

Here's the website for a company that underwrites insurance in Morocco - this is the same company who issued the Moroccan insurance certificate Peter posted an image of in post #22, above, and the same company that I bought my border insurance from at Tanger Med earlier this year.

Compagnie d'Assurance Transport - Casablanca

Probably best if you wrote them and explained your need, rather than phoned them.

They do publish a list of all the agents in the country who sell insurance on their behalf - that list is here, and I note that they have many agents in Casablanca. You might want to ask them if you can buy the 'frontier' insurance (insurance for visitors to Morocco) from one of their Casablanca agents, or, if they know of an agent that has an office at or close to Casablanca airport. You can then contact that agent and confirm that you can buy the frontier insurance from them upon arrival. (Probably best to have Euros in your pocket to pay for it, or to go to a Moroccan ATM and suck out some Dinars first. You can't buy Dinars outside of Morocco, it is a controlled currency. Moroccan ATMs will give out a maximum of 2,000 dinars per transaction).

Lastly, here is a link to their current price list: Our Products. Motorcycles fall into the first category, 'Conduite intérieure'. 30 days' coverage costs 950 MAD, which is about CAD $130, USD $100, GBP ₤76, or €88 as of today (March 2019).

Michael

Michael

Thanks I will follow up.

That's fantastic! Thanks for the copy, I will follow up for a quote.

Thanks,
Al

Great! I will be sending a request for quote now.


I did get a reply from Stara Elena in Casa re: Motorcycle insurance for Morocco. They only sell green cards for Europe. I asked if they knew anyone/anyplace in Casa for insurance, they did not. Too bad.

However, I did get a lead on FB about the Harley dealer in Casa who may provide insurance. I sent them an email yesterday and got a reply today suggesting they will try to help. We'll see.

I also got a lead for Allianz Insurance. The Canadian office doesn't carry this type of insurance as different countries carry different products. So, I would have to get it in Morocco.

The hunt for insurance continues .....

I would say Michael's tip about CAT is by far your best bet, even if you can't get it until you're there.
They are the company designated to sell short-term insurance to all foreigners at ports.
Once you find an office, it should take 10 mins showing your bike ownership docs.
950 MAD is the regular port price for a month and has been the same for years.

Yes, I agree. As Michael also suggested, I will probably have to take a cab up to Tan Med, get the insurance and come back to customs to have the bike released. I am awaiting a reply to a few emails that I have sent to the suggested insurance companies first. I will also call the Moroccan embassy in Montreal in the morning to see if I can get some help.

Thanks!

It's nearly an 800km round trip so I'd expect take all day one way in shared taxis.
You can get a train to Tangier ville in half the time for the same price, and then another train to Ksar el Seghir which is a couple of kms from Tan Med port.
So plan on overnighting - maybe in Tangiers ville . Might be a fun place to enjoy without the hassle of bike parking.

I had to do the same to get insurance years ago – from Figuig to Oujda, coming from Algeria.

And you can get your TVIP at Tan Med too, if it can't be issued at Casa airport for some reason.

The new TGV Train looks to be a quick and reasonably priced way of getting about, probably cheaper and faster than a taxi. If I recall Marrakech to Casa was around 15euro in November

Al:

Now that I see that Compagnie d'Assurance Transport (CAT) has many agents in Casablanca, as well as their own head office in Casablanca, I can't imagine that it would be necessary for you to travel up to Tanger Med port to purchase the insurance.

Best case situation, which you should be able to accomplish via written communication with CAT's head office, is to have them identify an agent in Casablanca - ideally not too far away from where you plan to stay the first night when you arrive - who can sell you the insurance.

Next best case is that you just go to their head office and buy it there.

CAT and their agents are fully computerized, as you can see from the image of the insurance certificate that Peter posted. Although it is likely that few of their agents inside the country are familiar with issuing frontier insurance to visitors, it's not as if an agent can't do it if they know how.

Write the head office, explain your situation and what you want (to buy frontier insurance in Casablanca), and ask them to recommend an agent to you. They will either tell you the name of an agent who is already familiar with the process (you're not the first person to fly a moto into CMN), or, they will call an agent, explain to the agent what they have to do, then you go to that agent.

Michael

OK, an update...

CAT insurance co.: I emailed CAT insurance twice and still no response.

Casablanca Harley Davidson:
"We are very sorry for the delay in the answer ; We understand you want to ship your motorcycle from Canada to Morocco however to our knowledge there is no such requirement as to have a Moroccan insurance. International insurance is acceptable plus customs will ask you to pay duty and taxes and the bike.

We do not sell insurances however if you want to inquire more on the subject you can contact aciassurances@hotmail.fr they will be able to give you more details."

I have emailed the suggested insurance company and will update all.

Moroccan embassy:
They have a direct 1-800 line to Rabat. I spoke with them and he referred me to their website...douane.gov.ma....which is consistently down. I got on their site once and when I got the page translated to English, you guessed it, crashed again!

Calling CAT might be more productive than emailing; getting someone to show up in person more productive still.

OK, today I secured motorcycle insurance for Morocco...in advance. I called Tour Insure in Germany and while the rate was more than CAT, I will have the insurance "in hand" when I arrive in Casablanca. The cost was 208 Euros for 30 days.

I called AXA in Casa but, they only covered health/travel. So, rather than call each office in Casa area, i came across Tour Insure. Luckily i found them, and they also provide green card for Europe for the same price. Funny thing though, the insurance is under written by AXA.

If anyone is interested, here are the contact details:

Tour Insure
Andreas Albers
Telefon +49 (0) 40 25 17 21 - 50
Telefax +49 (0) 40 25 17 21 - 21
E-Mail service@tourinsure.de
Internet www.tourinsure.de

Thanks,
Al

Fantastic info! Am aiming to do a similar trip in two years time. Please let us know how it went. Happy trails.

I made it!!!
 

I arrived in Casablanca Thursday morning 5:30 a.m. I immediately went over to the cargo freight office which was closed untill 8 am. So I waited until they opened. To make a long story short, I went through 11 levels of bureaucracy to get the bike out which took 3 1/2 hours.
I would go from one office to another office, back to the first office, back to the second office and on and on. and each time they would sit and analyse a piece of paper and my ownership. It would literally stare at it for 15-20 minutes. then they would enter some information on a piece of paper and asked me to take it to another office where I would go through the same routine again. Waiting in line for my turn, then 15 to 20 minutes of staring at paper.

when planning this trip, I was very concerned about getting insurance for my motorcycle in Morocco. To the point that I paid double and purchased it in advance from tour insure of Germany. None of the inspectors even looked at it. To say that they took a glance would be suggesting that they spent 30 minutes on it. They could care less?! Couldn't believe it! Anyway I'm very happy I got my bike out in a reasonable amount of time and was well on my way.

In the big picture, I think I got lucky based on ride reports where people are waiting six plus hours or more.

A big thank you to everybody who replied to my initial post and gave me some great suggestions and advice! I couldn't have done this on my own and I'm very grateful for all the people who contributed to it.!

All things considered, getting your moto out of customs the same day it arrived, with only half a day's work on your part, is pretty damn good for Africa.

It could have been a hell of a lot worse. Before I retired, I worked in lots of delightful places such as Angola, Mozambique, Libya, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and similar.

Even though I worked for a humanitarian organization, getting urgently needed aircraft parts out of customs was a friggin' nightmare... despite having worked in the countries for many years and having a full-time employee who did nothing but try and clear stuff through customs, it often took weeks to get goods released.

Wait till you fly the bike back to Canada. My guess is that it will take you longer than half a day to get it out of Canadian customs - at which point you will be grateful that at least the Moroccans "took you seriously" - by that I mean that although they might not have been paragons of efficiency, at least they paid attention to you and did what they could to get you on the road.

Michael