Venice-Alexandria ferry cancelled!
 

Hi all,

Visemar have suspended the Venice-Alex ferry service - more here:-

Visemar Line - Visemar Line

They're still running a roro freight service so looking shipping the vehicle and then flying in to Egypt.

The other option is reverting to the drive through Syria. Any info on the current situation on the ground greatly appreciated.

Happy trails,

Jojo

Bugger
 

Damn Damn Damn

We're having the same issue. We were supposed to take the Visemar ferry next week and then drive from Alexandria to Cape Town. Options we're currently exploring are:

1. Shipping (either with Visemar or someone else) to Alexandria or elsewhere in Egypt

2. Taking a ferry to Israel with Grimaldi Cruises and then driving over the border to Egypt

3. Shipping to Kenya and flying to Alexandria and using public transport to get to Kenya in the meantime

4. Shipping to Cape Town, and driving up instead of down

Would appreciate hearing of any other ideas out there!

Thanks,

Syria option
 

For the Syria option see this HUBB forum:
Middle East - The HUBB

From what it says there today it does not sound completely out of the question, but of course would be tense and unpredictable.

o shit! I guess that also means cancellation from alexandria to venice?

Els

Bright side: 60 more hours to enjoy Venice or Alexandria
 

Humm, thanks for the information. I was actually planning to catch the ferry from Alexandria to Venice for a vacation in Europe this summer... indeed a bugger. For those coming to Egypt, I think RORO is the best option although I'd need to learn more about it. For sure the RORO option allows for more time enjoying the Venice and/or Alexandria areas instead of being stuck on the ferry boat for 60 hours. Those getting sea sick will like the idea of flying -- unless they get air sick as well! Double pleasure of enjoying and saving some bucks since I understand there are low-cost flights between Milano and Alexandria. Of course securing the material for unattended RORO transportation needs caution and one would better insure all of it with a detailed inventory list. Trouble is if anything goes missing upon arrival, replacement in Egypt is somehow not that easy. Also in exploring alternatives, note the ferry option to Israel and then into Egypt could cause difficulties entering Sudan later on I read on the HUBB. You may want to dig into the site to learn more. Life is like a chocolate box said Forrest Gump's mother...

RO/RO alternative, some infos
 

While seeking for an alternative to the Alexandria – Venice ferry service by Visemar, I searched and found information on ports of departure/arrival and schedule for RO/RO service with a stop in Alexandria. No cost information available yet, I sent a request and expect a return soon.

Grimaldi (Napoli based) offers a wide range of services for sea freight, including two of relevance to fellow overlanders having to adjust plans in view of the cacellation of Visemar ferry services. Only Euro.Med and Adriatic services from Grimaldi seem accessible for private vehicles, with quite a number of sea port options includiong some in Belgium, UK, Italy and others.

Here’s the latest available schedule for the Euro-Med service
http://www.grimaldi.napoli.it/pdf/sc...ed_service.pdf

and for the Adriatic service :
http://www.grimaldi.napoli.it/pdf/sc...ic_service.pdf

Should you be reverting to this thread in the future, you should follow this link instead and select both:
Euro Med

I have never used these services so please don’t shoot me if I’m wrong, but it does seem like an interesting alternative to reach the African continent in the coming months, or else reach Europe for those heading North.

I was very wrong yesterday proposing to look at the bright side of staying about 60 hours longer in Venice and/or Alexandria. I somehow had imagined the RO/RO service to Egypt was scheduled almost as the former ferry service. Now the real figures looking closely at the schedule…

Sending the vehicle from Savona (between Genova in Italy and Nice in France) to Alexandria would take one full month, e.g. departing 4 June arrival in Alexandria scheduled for 3 July. The same vessel stops mid-way at Southampton (UK) on 18 June on a loop to a number of other ports.There are departures every week with Euro-Med. The other way around, e.g. for those leaving Alexandria, let’s say depart on 12 June is scheduled to arrive Savona on 18 June (6 days) so quite fast, and Souhampton on 2 July, so 3 weeks.

As for the Adriatic service, there are less sea port stops, but also there’s only one vessel going to Egypt (named Euroc. Valencia). Curiously the only vessel also going to Venice.. could it be the same that has just been cancelled ? Anyway, following the same « traveling in loop logic », it would take 6 days from Venice to Alexandria, and only 4 from Alexandria to Venice.

It could be an option, I’d like to read more about it. I’ll feed in as I receive information from Grimaldi. Has anyone tried any of these services in the past and/or has more information on more practical aspects ?

Oh crap.. I wonder why !

I took this ferry in September 2010 and it was great.... Really saved me a lot of time and cash. Libya is obviously no go at the moment and it's a long diversion through Turkey, Syria etc..

Grimaldi also take passengers on some routes.
I know people has gone to Alexandria on Grimaldi, but some years back.

grimaldi to alexandria
 

Hi all,

Just a quick update. In the end, we decided to ship our car to Alexandria with Grimaldi (Grande Europa). We dropped it off without difficulties in Antwerp last Friday, and we hope to pick it up again in Alexandria on the 15th. So far so good. Now we just have to find out where the boat docks - any info from anyone who has done this before appreciated:)

Good luck to those of you who are also trying to get to Egypt.

Emma

Hi Emma

I too need to be in North Africa in the next few months as am driving from the UK to Uganda and have spent 100s of hrs trying different routes

Any more info you could give me on how you shipped you car would be most appreciated

cheers

Kurtis

If its going to Alex Old port (& I hope for your sake it is!), just ask around at the dock gates, but if it goes to Alex dekhila port you will be in for a nightmare!!!

Check with grimaldi, but I am fairly sure they only go to Alex old port.

I would be interested to know how you get on with the ro ro option as I was going on the ferry & dont really fancy syria at the moment.

I have containered before and it was , to put it very mildly, BIG HASSLE!

have been out there twice since the revolution & nothing seems to have changed beauracracy wise!

Andy

Alexandria to Europe shipping
 

We are currently in Egypt and looking for alternatives since the easy option Visemar ferry from Alexandria to Venice was canceled. The route through Syria from here looks closed for now. Friends have failed to get visas from Cairo.
The only reasonable option we have found is shipping with a cargo container from here to Europe. There are many boats leaving Alexandria to various destinations.
I am using a company based in Alexandria to organize and assist with transportation. They also have people that will help travelers complete the paperwork (traffic attourney, number plates etc). Best thing is that they are conversant in English. I am due to ship out the 23rd directly to Southampton, takes two to three weeks in total.
The person that I am using and details for her are

Mrs Nashwa EL Hossary
Export Dept. Manager
export@smarina.com
Marina Shipping agencies
Tel: 002-03-4863647
Fax: 002-03-4856941
Mobile: 0129136600

More details
 

I'm in contact with Ms Nashwa from Marina Shipping. Here's the quotation I got this week-end to send from Alexandria Old Port to Southampton (among quite a number of options):

P.O.L : Alexandria old port.
Destination: Southampton (GB).

LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 SW from 2006
Vehicle is in perfect condition.
Weight (kgs): 2020
Length (mm): 4639
Width (mm): 1790
Height (mm): 2021

- Rate : Ocean freight : Euro 250/Unit + BAF 40% = Total : Euro 350/Unit.

- L.THC : Approx. L.E 300/Unit.
- Telex release fees (If requested) : L.E 30 Per B/L.
- Custom clearance for shipper's care & expenses.

- T.T : Approx. 2 Weeks.

- Vessels Sailing Schedule - Alex/ Southampton :

Kindly note The required docs as follows :

1-Shippers ID Or Passport
2-Shipper’s Driving License
3-All Car’s Relevant Docs ( Trip Ticket , License, ….etc)
4-Full Name , Address and tel no. for both Shipper and Rcvr ( To Be Written in the shipping Declaration )

Remark :
-------------
-The Car must be delivered to Our Port in The morning of The Vsls Arrival Day
-Time arrival Of Vsl is subject to variation without prior notification

I'm expecting details to ship RoRo to Venice later today, hoping to post details soon. They also will take motorbikes onboard for those interested.

Hi Squire
Is the RoRo you refer to the same ship that was named on the Visemar news announcement of the cancellation of the car/passenger ferry to Venice " .....However, freight capacity will be increased on the route from beginning of June 2011 due to the replacement of the Ro/Pax VISEMAR ONE with Mv CRAGSIDE, a new Ro/Ro ro-ro vessel."
I spoke to Mr Hanaffy at the Inchcape Shipping Servies and he told me that "...Please note so far, the new roro vessel will be cargo purpose only during june and the line will stop till September" When I spoke to him abut it he told me the ship could not take cars.

Have you heard differently ? If so please do tell !!

ProperJob

Shipping to Alexandria - update
 

Thanks for all the information on ports and on shipping agents in Alexandria!

The latest news is that our car was offloaded from the Grande Europa in Antwerp, due to the vessel no longer stopping at Alexandria, and reloaded onto the Grande Napoli, which should arrive in Alex on 18th June. Depending on how long it takes us to get the car through customs in Alex, and on the bureaucracy in Aswan, making our ferry to Sudan on the 27th might be tight - but all we can do is hope for the best and enjoy Egypt (we're currently in Cairo) in the meantime.

We'll reach out to the shipping agent you recommended, and will let you know how we get on. Good luck to you all!

Thanks again,

Emma

Watching this will great interest as we are meant to be starting the two year trip rtw in october and are stuck on getting to Egypt as both planned routes are scuppered.

I was hoping for the easier vehicle onboard option but it now looks like its going to have to be a container and its not exactly what we wanted to do. I don;t want to fly after it i want to drive as far as i can and then get a ferry.

At the moment i'm even looking at crossing Africa from Algeria into Niger, Chad but that looks a bit difficult to say the least. Should we go west coast....hmmm,,,miss out africa all together and go to South America. I wish we'd done this a few years back. We'd not be having this issue at least.

Alexandria to Venice Quotation as of 2011-06-08
 

Here's the latest information received from the Egyptian Agent recommended by Grimaldi UK, MARINA SHIPPING, coordinates indicated above in this thread. I have posted the details for shipping a Defender from Alex to Southampton earlier, now I have received for Alexandria - Venice to ship to Europe.

Details:
P.O.L : Alexandria old port.
Destination: Venice (IT).

LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 SW from 2006 - Van (H > 1.70 M) - RORO - We cannot accept personal effects inside the cars.
Weight (kgs): 2020
Length (mm): 4639
Width (mm): 1790
Height (mm): 2021

- Rate : Ocean freight : Euro 300/Unit + BAF Euro 47X lmt + Discharge Contribution Euro 60 /Unit = Total : Euro 578/Unit.

- L.THC : Approx. L.E 300/Unit.
- Telex release fees (If requested) : L.E 30 Per B/L.
- Custom clearance for shipper's care & expenses.

So, it actually costs about 220 Euros more to ship to Venice than to Southampton from Alexandria. The process is the same, relatively.

The other option consists of shipping in a 20' container
Rate for shipping in a container : Ocean freight : Euro 214 / 20'DV

- L.THC : Approx. L.E 250/20'DV.
- Telex release fees (If requested) : L.E 30 Per B/L.
- Custom clearance for shipper's care & expenses.

- T.T : Approx. 3-4 Days.

Sailing Schedule: Alex/ Venice on EUROCARGO VALENCIA leaving about every 12 days, with variations, be careful in planning.

CAREFUL with the container option, in addition one need to add port handling fees of about 200 euros. All in all, still cheaper than RoRo and having the possibility of shipping personal effects which is non-negligeable, to say the least.

I hope this is useful. Those in Cairo, pls feel free to PM, we're in Zamalek and it'd be nice to meet for a meal / drink and hear your story. Best, /C

Shipping part III
 

Thanks for the info Squire. Sorry to miss you - we're in Luxor now, doing some tourism while waiting for the car.

Just heard that the boat's going to be two days late, so we'll likely miss our window of getting to Khartoum before our visas expire. If anyone has any experience with this, it would be great to hear your advice. We're thinking we might be able to get an extension in Cairo, but maybe this isn't possible. Worst case, we'll try to go through the process (and pay:(() again to get another visa.

Good luck to you all!

Emma

October?
 

Hi to you all.
We we're planning to use the ferry end of october on our way from amsterdam to Kenya.
I read this bad news about suspending the ferry today.
Does anyone know if the RORO sevice visemar is offering means that you still can ship your car from Venice to Alexandria??

Regards Adri de Visser

RoRo Europe to Alex
 

Last we heard is that Visemar is no longer doing RoRo until October, but I would get in contact with them to see if you can arrange something...

Otherwise, you can try the Grimaldi RoRo that we are using. Only annoying this is that the car STILL isn't yet here - we're now going to be a week behind schedule at least. Fingers' crossed that the car gets here in one piece and we get through customs easily.

If anyone is interested in using this service, here are the details of the contacts we have (sorry if there's some repetition):

Grimaldi ships Grande Europa / Grande Napoli - we went through an agent in the Netherlands (shipping from Antwerp) called Marico Shipping: Home

In Alex we are in contact with:
Dina Abdallah
Import Manager
Marina Shipping Agencies
13, Salah Salem Street
Alexandria-Egypt
Tel:002-03-4863647

Hope this helps!

Emma

Personal effects inside cars
 

Nobody told us that we couldn't shop personal effects, so we just did it. The ship's about to arrive in Alexandria, will get the car Thursday - will let you know if all our stuff is still in it.

Emma

Normally they don't accept anything inside the car on a roro. It will be driven on and off, and will be unlocked the entire journey.
In a container you can put anything you like.

Alexandria shipping - outcome
 

Hi all,

Sorry for the radio silence on this. We finally got our car in Alexandria, and then had to race down to Aswan to make our ferry to Sudan. In the end, the car came in fine - not a scratch - but we did have a couple of things stolen from the cabin (our fault for not being able to fit everything in the back to lock it up) and it did take a lot of time and money to get the car through customs.

Here's the lowdown:

Total delay (accounting for reloading from the original Grimaldi ship, whose stop at Alex was cancelled, plus delay of the replacement ship) = 6 days.

Total time and cost taken to get through customs, etc = 4 days, around 500 euros:
Day 1: delivery order (E£467) and letter from the Egyptian Automobile club E£300
Day 2: access passes for the port (free)
Day 3: ship arrives and unloads, wait and do nothing
Day 4: customs and traffic police. All in all took 5 hours, which apparently is "quick" (some other overlander friends of ours took the whole day). We paid (all E£): 535 for the carnet stamp/customs, 160 for mandatory insurance, 240 for storage of the car (in our case only a day so this quickly adds up), 100 for Egyptian license plates. We paid our fixer EUR 300 for his services. If you are unlucky you have to buy a fire extinguisher too (even if you already carry several...).

Every step is accompanied by lots and lots of waiting, handshaking, handing out tips, endless inspections of the car and its contents... and an incredible amount of photo copies of passports, carnets, etc.

All in all, we are now just relieved to have the car in one piece. It took a while to get there but the process is not that complicated if you are patient, are willing to pay and can lock away all that is in the car. If you're on a tight budget and tight for time, this may not be the best option for you.

Hope this helps!

Good luck, and let me know if you need more specific info.

Emma

Venice Alex ferry
 

I spoke with Visemar about a month ago - they are supposedly restarting the RoPax service in October - that's fine for us - we haven't booked yet as dates are still a bit fluid - has anyone successfully booked this recently?

Ian

EmmaLF, thank you.
 

Emma, thank you.

This is a fantastically detailed post, and so "polite" :innocent:. This information is most needed to the community of overlanders, a certainly food for thought for those interested, who knows, maybe some of us would know personally high level Egyptian authorities and would be willing to engage into policy level discussion with them to put an end to this non-sense. Have a good trip, Be safe.

If thats true my problems are sorted but i doubt it is. Can anyone confirm this for sure???

So i decided to be proactive.....NOTE the "probably" statement.

Dear Mr Neill,

Cargo and Passengers Service will be probably resumed in October.
All information regarding departures from October will be available at the end of July.



Best regards


Jihane El Yakout

Passenger Customer Service
Punto Franco, Santa Marta, Mag. 16 - 30123 Venezia
VAT n.: IT03961450271
Tel.: +39.041.2712509
Mob.: +39.3457221320
Fax: +39.041.2712507
e-mail: pax@visemarline.com

That's progress! Under the previous regime you had to buy two (apparently the factory making extinguishers belonged to the then minister of transport). His successor is learning pretty fast!

I've just tried to book a crossing (truck + 2 pax) for end October with Visemar Venice - Alex using their online booking facility - it was bounced at the end of the process - so I'm currently enquiring "manually" - I'll update this as and when any information arrives.

Ian

This is the reply from Visemar today:


Good morning Ian,

the service is actually suspended up until october, when we will most certainly restart it. Fact is that we're still studying different plans and routes in order to revamp our line service after the break, and due to this we can't ensure you departure dates, nor actual confirmed rates. We kindly ask you to contact us somewhere near September, in order to have a clearer vision and, hopefully, fixed days and rates of travelling.

Sorry for the inconvenience
Kind regards


If I may suggest that if anyone is interested in using this service, then now is the time to show Visemar that there are customers out there - if enough people enquire then maybe they'll restart it. Their website is: www.visemarline.com/ and the email address is info@visemarline.com

A little birdy at the RAC just told me they spoke to someone at the ferry company and its starting October (for sure) missing out Syria. Now we all know who this person is so we've got to presume they wouldn't tell him bull.

Hi all, thanks for the info and please keep it coming - we are heading North towards Europe and trying to determine the best route.

Forget Visemar; Venice - Alex
 

Hi All,
I phoned Visemar yesterday to ask when the Venice to Alex ferry will re-start. I was told categorically that it will not be running in the foreseeable future due to the "continued trouble in Syria and Egypt". When I mentioned to the chap in the Italian office that their web site says the service will be resumed in October he gave a sigh. I too was hoping to be on this ferry in October.

Back to the plan of shipping my car then flying out to Egypt to meet it...

Jim.

UK-Alex Options
 

Hi All, This all makes interesting reading and thanks to all for useful information. I plan to ship two WW2 Jeeps to Egypt next March. Obviously too far away to make serious enquiries yet, but, following Roamingyak's advice, I have made a tentative enquiry. T

I don't believe it! They've said more than once that it will absolutely start again in October and now one person says "no it won't". Theres no trouble in Egypt any more and the new route will bypass Syria according to everything i've heard off the ferry company. Do you think i need to Email again and get the Paul G on the case again?

If this is true that its not going to run, i'm going to drive through Syria and if i can do that then the damn ferry is hardly going to have a problem. Two years to plan and a few months to screw it all up.

Ok then. Its confirmed. Its not going to run. bugger.:thumbdown:
I sent them a specific question and got a specific answer.





Dear Neill,

Service has been suspended last mid of June.

Actually we have to say that the service will be not resumed.
Too many complication in Syria and in Egypt too.


Regards

Emanuele Volo
Operation
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...C5CB7.F7B31120
Punto Franco - Santa Marta - Fabb. 16 - 30123 VENEZIA
VAT n.: IT03961450271
Tel.: +39 041.2712662
Fax: +39 041.2712507
Mob: +39 345 7274188

This is really bad news... We're planning a trip form Belgium to Cape Town, starting in january 2012 and we really counted on this ferry... We could try to go via turkey, syria and jordan, but it is a really big detour, especially since we leave in the middle of the winter and it will be cold. Sleeping in a rooftop tent is not ideal under these conditions. And then there are the troubles in Syria.

I think we only have two options left (i) shipping the car to south africa and start over there, we'll see where we get (ii) shipping the car to egypt, but that seems so much hassle...

Does anyone have a similar problem or a suggestion?

What a pain, to say the least!

I have containered to Alex before & said I wouldnt do that again, but it looks like I may just change my mind!!!

Or....... maybe, just maybe Libya & Gadaffi will be a bit sorted by xmas & as I would only do the coast road again, (transiting), that could be a possibility.
I would think europeans will be very welcome there if Gadaffi does go.

I wont be booking a container till the last minute, just in case!

I can live in hope!

Andy

We're in a similar situation - we're off in October, we were planning on going through Syria, then switched to the ferry - now not sure what we're going to do.
I'm wary of travelling through a country on the brink of civil war - it could remain "stable" for months or could tip into war in hours if part of the armed forces decide they've had enough. In this case you probably wouldn't even know it was happening until you ran into something. If I was by myself I might decide to go for it, but making that type of decision & dragging someone else into trouble isn't funny.

Libya would be good - not sure it'll be sorted in time though.

I'm not keen on freighting into Alex - are there really no shipping lines that will allow you to accompany the vehicle?

libya would be a good option if it's sorted by january. We'll see...

Andy and Frenchian, please keep us posted on your final decision and how it works out, whether it is driving through Syria or shipping to Alex. I will too.

More rumours
 

This from Travel Agent Rami Siag in Cairo:

'The Vismara line is postponed not cancelled to Nov 2011, but he will change his rotation Venise- Antalia – Alexandria'

This could make sense, though contradicts the line taken my Visemar:

'There are two companies performing such route with cargo only.
Pls refer to their web-site for more info: “Grimaldi lines” or “Messina lines"

T

Can you expalin where they got this from as this may in some way inform us how three direct communications from the company have said its cancelled. Cancelled being the operative word here. Not postponed or anything else. Just plain cancelled.

This is the reply I recieved from Viesmar today

Andy

service is suspended and not more available

We aren’t able, on this very moment, to give you any forecast for when and
If same will be resumed

Brgds
AF

Not what I / we wanted to hear!

I will start looking at alternatives now

Andy

The current plan is to make a quick traverse of Syria (if a Unimog could ever be called "quick"!).
Visas applied for and waiting to see if/when we get them.

I am still going to watch what happens with Visemar though......

Ian

Oh, what fun and games...
 

So whats the news at the moment? I'm planning on the Syria route (for lack for a better alternative) around mid November (leaving 6 weeks to get to Kenya...oh dear). Is anybody planning on doing it at a similar time? It seems those trying at the moment are having mixed luck...

We were planning late november but have postponed till december to team up with 3 other vehicles running on a later schedule.

Ferry is still off. You need to take the risk or buddy up. More the better in my opinion. We are also hearing that Laptops, GPS and Sat Phones are being turned away. We are checking on this. I would advise you wait till we have official response. I have today written to the Syrian Embassy UK and will have an answer to the "equipment issue" soon. I will post here with the official response.

pm if you need more info but we need all to agree to more in the convoy.

Take care
 

Syria , it is quite possible there is a war very soon there , in this case this war will include Israel , Turkey , NATO , USA backed up with oil money against Syria , Iran , part of Lebanon ,
If this bloody scenario develops into reality I would suggest planning an alternative route .
The Middle East is changing and maybe im wrong but thought to give a news feedback from native point of view
Mahmoud Mohareb

I hope 3M's views don't materialise - but I can understand why you see things this way.

Due to the Syria situation we are looking at shipping to South Africa and doing the trip in reverse - this way if in 18 months everything has settled down we will visit Syria, if not we can exit via Haifa - or if everything has gone to pot as predicted by 3M then we can do a loop back South again!

Ian

sorry to see thats what you are doing Ian. We might now have another UK tag along in a Merc 814. Going to talk about this later in the week when i go to see them. Sure you can't be persuaded.......?

Haven't heard of the need of a letter from the Egyptian Automobile club before, how do I get this the easiest way?

Um, don't ship is the short answer...
 

I've had a similar experience to Emma's ... We were meant to be going with Neill through Syria and don't we wish we did, but retrospect is a fine thing. At the time it wasn't going to take a long time to do the shipping and we couldn't affor being turned away at the Syrian border...

We also went with Grimaldi Lines, through a handler in Athens. If i'd know this I'd not have taken this route, they didn't tell me it was Grimaldi. Anyway, we've now been in Egypt for 2 weeks. We've missed one Aswan ferry and it looks as though we're going to miss the next and therefore miss christmas with family and friends in Nairobi.

All I can say is, if possible, DO NOT SHIP, unless you have a crazy amount of time on your hands.

As far as paperwork goes (so far) we've had similar experiences. So far we've had to pay $300 and we haven't even entered the port! We've also had to arrange a special permit for me, as the registered keeper, but foreigner to enter the port - yet more dosh and time.

We didn't get a letter, but it seems that our handlers here in egypt took it upon themselves to send the carnet to the Automobile club in Cairo the day before a public holiday and two days before the two day long elections. In all this is an extremely bad time to be dealing with port customs and formalities, workers in the port and the shippers are stopping at 3pm due to the protests, many don't come in for work and the elections are taking up valuable days.

If we do end up getting out car by Wednesday (In shallah, but this is not the first time I have said that! - Last week!), can any body recommend the quickest way to Aswan? I was going to go the Nile route, but I have been suggested going down the red sea on a quicker road and cutting in to Luxor.

Thanks, Ed

Neill, how are you getting along? I trust you've had much more luck than we have?

That doesn't sound good at all!:thumbdown:

But if we get refused at the Syrian border we will have no other option. :(

Well,
After my last time shipping into Alex, hopefully I wont be doing it again this time, I say hopefully as I am researching the driving options to cross Libya in Jan / feb
From experience, even with the Sollum border 'dance', taken into account, its much, much easier than containering into Alex

So far the Libyan embassy in London has been giving me positive feedback!
Lets hope it continues as I know from my Libyan contacts there are still pockets of trouble there

Andy

That is a real headache, as a major tour of Africa can get screwed up before it even began.

I would think Libya, if you can get the visas, is the best bet, as their civil war is mostly over, whereas in Syria it it slowly getting worser.

Why not start in South Africa and head north as far as you can.

Maybe buy bikes in South Africa to save on shipping and just leave, sell or even store them in the North until things settle down.

Starting in South Africa is a nice introduction to a fabulous continent where arriving in Egypt is usually a head ache which gets many off on the wrong foot.

Yes, it's a big headache only two days before departure. :(

We've tried to get Libyan visas without any luck. Was told they don't issue tourist visas right now and a business visa was not possible for a group(?).
But it's a good idea to contact them again and see if anything changed in the last weeks.

To start from South Africa is sadly not an option because I'm organizing this to a group and each one will participate on different parts of the trip. Not possible to reverse it. But if it were only me it would have been a great idea. Or I would circled Africa anticlockwise instead.

Fly into Khartoum perhaps ??

It certainly isn't easy to get into Africa at the moment. It's crazy how fast things changed. Only a year ago it was all very easy and Africa was calm.

It's almost beyond belief that there was only one car ferry from Europe and Turkey to Egypt.

I'll be heading north by car from South Africa in a few weeks...hope things improve in Syria or that restart the ferry to/from Egypt.

Anyone looked at going by ferry from Israel to Cyprus then to Greece?

M2M - We arrived in Salerno this morning having taken the Grimaldi freighter from Israel. It was fine. 365 euro each for us, 385 euro for the car. The crossing took 5 days. Ensuite double cabins, ridiculous amounts of free food (3 courses for both lunch and dinner) even free wine (!). Car was fully accessible at all times, crew very pleasant though kept to themselves.

We were on the the Euro Med line, which stops at Turkey, Cyprus and Greece on the way to Israel, not from - the only stop after Israel was Alex but we weren't allowed off.

Having had to renew our car papers at Alex port back in September I wouldn't recommend anyone importing a car there if there is any alternative. Compared to Aswan and Nuweiba (which are the only other borders of Egypt I've crossed in a car) it was horrendous from a corruption point of view.

NB Getting into Israel in a car wasn't much fun - you have to take out everything in the car and have it individually scanned ... took 8 hours.

Tell us more about the israel ferry.
 

Hi Itchyfeet.

Can you tell us more details how you arranged the ferry? Did you need an shipping agent? Did you book it in advance. Was there plenty of room on the freighter?

Any contact details you have would be really helpful

Sure.

Contact details below (lifted from website)

GRIMALDI LINES Freighter TravelVia M. Campodisola 13
Tel. (+39) 081 496444 Fax (+39) 081 496551
E-mail: gfc@grimaldi.napoli.it
Web site: www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com

We dealt with this guy re initial enquiries - he speaks perfect english.

GRIMALDI LINES FREIGHTER TRAVEL
13, Via M. Campodisola - 80133 Napoli
Tel. +39 081 496524 (direct), +39 3452503740 (mobile)
Fax +39 081 496551

e-mail: difalco.carlo@grimaldi.napoli.it
http://www.grimaldi-freightercruises.com


We didn't want to book/pay until we were in Israel as we weren't sure of our dates so Grimaldi told us to contact their agents in Tel Aviv when we arrived (Allalouf).

marcoh@allalouf.com
Tel Aviv (Israel)
ALLALOUF AND CO. SHIPPING
Tel: +972 3 5640202

We contacted Grimaldi by email a couple of months beforehand with enquiries and finally booked about 10 days before we sailed. We paid by credit card in Allalouf's office - they had to ring the payment through to Grimaldi.

There are only 6 cabins on the boat - 4 same size as ours and 2 bigger and more expensive. Three cabins were booked on our boat. Plenty of room for the car - in fact almost a deck to ourselves. Car is strapped down.The ship is enormous. I believe it's full capacity is c. 5,000 cars and on our journey it carried boats, cranes all sorts.

On top of the fare you need to pay an arrangement fee to Allalouf ($25pp and $50 per car). You also need a forwarding agent ($200). The port won't deal with you as a private individual - a couple of fellow passengers spent a day trying. Finally about 60/70 shekels port tax.

You have to remember it's a freighter and you are pretty much at the bottom of the pile re their priorities. We left 3 days late and I'd never have known if I hadn't kept ringing Allalouf each day. Also they can't guarantee stops. Others on the boat wanted to get off in Savona and that stop was cancelled en route. This might work to your advantage if they take you further! Or might not.

Thats all I can think of.

Hi itchyfeet38,

Thanks very much for the info.

turkey to afrıca??
 

Hello all,

We (2 Amerıcans) have just realized our syrıan vısas have expired and are scrambling to fınd an alternative route to jordan or egypt. We have contact wıth a few freıght companies and ıt looks as though it might be possible. There is also a possibility of sendıng a truck through syrıa , but its hard to send our girls off alone through syria. As we have no option but to find a way to africa somehow as we are going to SA, I will update with our fınal solution.

Rien

Procedure at Israeli border
 

What they said to us is that we had to remove everything not attached to the car. But they didn't apply this very consistently. So we had to unbolt zarges boxes we use for storage and also take out the fridge. However, there was a box bolted onto the roof rack they said we didn't have to take off though they did go through it. We didn't have to take off the sand ladders and they were content with the tent just being opened. We weren't asked to remove the batteries. Every item had to come out of every box or bag and the scan was item by item. They were even leafing through the pages of books. They scared my other half to death by trying to dismantle some very expensive camera lenses (that don't come apart). Unloading and scanning took about 4 hours.

They then inspected the empty car which took them a couple of hours. I guess it would have taken less time if they hadn't broken the key in the door lock. They asked for the keys to the safe, took spare wheels off etc. We weren't allowed to be present when they inspected the car.

It then took us a couple of hours to repack so about 8 hours in all.

Bizarrely we also had to do much the same thing when we were leaving Israel although half way through the scanning our forwarding agent threw a wobbly and said we'd miss the ship. So they just stopped.

We had minimal questioning going in but quite a lengthy interview on leaving. They separated the two of us for questioning and then compared our answers.

In all honesty it was a real pain and though I really enjoyed the country I would would think hard about entering Israel again with a car - or at least one that fully loaded. I should add that the customs staff were all very courteous and polite throughout and we tried to reciprocate. From what I hear our experience matches that of others.

Grimaldi sent a pretty impenetrable document to us which mentioned other taxes - worst case scenario on my reading was $400+- when I pushed they said the exact cost depended on various factors such as how long the vehicle had been in the country. The forwarders (Allalouf) just said it didn't apply to us and in the event we were charged 60 odd shekels ($15-20) fully receipted. You could try contacting Allalouf for some comfort?

We got it covered on our green card. However, I heard it was $100.

Yes you should have insurance for Europe - no-one checked ours but it is a legal requirement.

We were away from the UK for three years so had no UK insurance. We bought a green card covering all Europe (incl Israel?!) from Alessi who I think are based in Belgium. NB it will not cover the UK or wherever in Europe your car is from. All was done via email/internet banking etc though we did get the original document couriered. It was pretty expensive (300+ euro) but we did want three months cover.

Two separate groups we met (incl two on bikes) said insurance had cost $100 for Israel. They were perfectly happy to accept the green card.

We are in process of shipping our SUV to Alexandria for our overland trip to Cape Town. By container is expensive and slow...
Do you have idea what is the current situation with farries etc.

What is the procedure to clear the vehicle in Alexandria?

I dont think anybody really knows what the exact procedure is, or should be,
but from my experiences you will need Patience, patience & even more patience!!!!

Just dont expect anything to happen quickly!

Andy

It seems as though there is significant uncertainty about a ferry to Alex and negotiating with Egyptian customs. Perhaps there may be another way...

I'm thinking about taking my camper by ferry to Ashdod in Israel and then driving to the Israel / Egypt border crossing at Taba. The positive in this for me is that I can have an Egyptian national friend meet me at the border in order to negotiate entry on my behalf.

Hi Timoneuk,

Welcome to the HUBB! Please be aware that the border crossing in Taba is not possible for 4WD vehicles at this moment! In addition, the continuation to Sudan might me more tricky with an Egyptian entry stamp at Taba now since there is no ferry across the Nasser Lake anymore between Egypt and Sudan but a regular land border.

Best,
Achim

Thank you Achim. My camper, a Citroen Relay (Jumper) is 2WD. What is the problem at the Taba crossing? I do not intend to continue to Sudan but to spend some time in Sinaii and then drive, via Suez, down to Berenice in the deep south.

Thanks, Tim

There is no specific problem, but the entry into Egypt on the Sinai peninsula, be it through the Elat-Taba border, be it through the Aqaba-Nuweiba ferry, has been off limits for some time now for 4WD vehicles due to perceived security issues on the Egyptian side. 2WD are OK.

Most probably you will be obliged to join a convoy if you want to directly cross the Sinai from Taba. It might still be possible to go on your own if you follow the coast road to Nuweiba, Dahab and Sharm before going up North on the Western side of the peninsula towards Suez.

Best,
Achim