Shipping from Aqaba to Djibouti
 

Hi Roro,

I remember that the shipping fees from Aqaba to Djibouti were approximately 1,400 US-Dollars (I have no idea about the rate from Europe). But then, there was an additional 1,200 USD (minimum, who knows what else would have come up once in the port) for the handling fees in Djibouti.

In the German forum Wuestenschiff (wuestenschiff.de/phpbb), fellow travellers who recently shipped their car to Djibouti reported the following fees:

Stamp BoL Agent: 100 $
Costs Diamond Shipping (port fees etc.): 80$
DPworld Doraleh Handling & Import: 654 $
Transit Agent: 100$
Container Transport: 135$
other fees: ca. 35 $
------------------------------------------
Total: 1.104,- $

That would come up to almost exactly what I was told in October 2012 (they paid a good tip to a helpful worker at the port in addition).

Your posting was not exactly clear as to whether you would like to ship TO or FROM Djibouti. I would imagine that the outgoing fees might be less than the incoming (but I don't know for sure).

Since the Sinai is off limits for 4WD, the Nuweiba - Aqaba ferry is, unfortunately, NOT a solution!

cars are allowed in Israel. To my knowledge, only Lebanon completely refuses to allow entry to Diesel cars.

Best,
Achim

Shipping from Djibouti to Yemen/Oman
 

Hi Achim,

I was wondering if you have been to Djibouti and if you know of any ferries which I could take to cross the read sea. I´m planning to cross from Ethiopia to Djibouti over to Yemen or Oman all the way to Iran or Turkey.

Alternatively any other routes you might know which I could take to get to Turkey? Is there any ferry to Aqba too and from there to Israel and then a ferry to Turkey or Greece maybe?

Would appreciate any info you have.

Cheers,

Mahsa

Hi Mahsa,

Thanks for your questions many of which have already been answered in other threads. Unfortunately, I did not make it to Djibouti at the time since I did not have time enough to sort out the port in Djibouti on ENTERING. To summarize your questions briefly, this is what I would advice:

There are no ferries crossing the SOUTHERN Red Sea. From Djibouti, you could either ship your vehicle / bike to Aqaba, then cross into Israel and take the "Cenk Y" ferry to Turkey or the "Salamis" ferry to Greece. Or you could ship it to Salalah in Oman which is the Maersk hub for the region and where customs is fairly easy. From there, you could then continue through Oman - UAE - Iran into Turkey.

From Ethiopia, you could also continue to Sudan, where you can apparently still obtain a Saudi transit visa, then cross by ferry to Jeddah in Saudi. Or you could continue to Egypt and then on to Jordan and Israel.

Even though the situation at the Horn of Africa has greatly improved with regard to Somali pirates, I would not recommend to ship your vehicle with the local Dhows to Yemen. Yemen is off limits for foreigners right now given the kidnappings and assassinations of recent months.

Hope this info helps for your planning!
Greetings,
Achim

Hi there,

As Achim has told you, the situation in Yemen has been real bad over the last couple of years and is actually worsening. It is all-out civil war now. The country is absolutely off-limits I am afraid...

You could ride from Addis to Djibouti and then try to ship straight to either Oman or Dubai if you want to go that route.

Best of luck,

Levelo.

Getting out of Djibouti!
 

Hi Achim and Levelo,

Thanks a lot for the very helpful information. It makes me feel a bit closer to my destination as if the trip has already started :).

Assuming I ship the bike from Djibouti to Aqba or Oman, how do I get to those countries myself? Any frequent planes, airlines...? Do you know any shipping agents, companies there? I´m kind afraid of shipping because of all the horror stories I´ve heard about the delays, bikes that get damaged or arrive after half a year or all the hidden costs...

Right now I´m also trying to find a shipping company or an agent to send the bike to Addis Ababa. The best price I´ve been given is 2500€+! Any suggestions? I could not find the Ethiopian Airlines in Madrid either.

Cheers from Madrid
Mahsa

Dear Mahsa,

You are right: Ethiopian Cargo only has a European office in Belgium, cargo flights to Addis leave from Belgium (Liege) and Luxembourg.

Ethiopian Airlines Cargo - Contacts

Will try to send more information about cargo agencies for Djibouti port and transit to Addis later.

Greetings,
Achim

Achim
 

the roughly $1000 figure seems about right. Masida transport is, generally speaking, one of the better import/export companies here. We have fedEx also, but the last time I tried to ship something with them, they wanted more for shipping than the engine was worth.

Shipping from Spain to Ethiopia
 

Hi Achim,

Does the Masida Transport ship also from Europe to Ethiopia? Do you have their contacts?

Thanks a lot,

Dear Mahsa,

Unfortunately, I do not have their contacts.

The problem is that you will probably need to take it from both ends: check out some freight / forwarding agencies in Spain and then try to communicate with handling agencies in Djibouti or Addis. Given the difficulty of the whole thing, you can probably only do the latter once you are there.

My guess is that it is still a lot easier to get your bike out of Djibouti by ship than into that country. So you might as well ship it to Addis and then start your journey from there.

Here are some agencies in Djibouti I had come across during my research in 2012:

Ankit Sharma
Premier Shipping Agency
Direct: +253 21-355489 (dealing with MAERSK line, one of the most reliable)
Office: +253 21-324690
Mobile:+253 77-827021
E-mail: djimskmng@gsk-group.com

also and my main contact at Premier Shipping:
Ms. Malyoun Elmi,
mobile: +253 77 829124,
e-mail: malyoun.elmi@gsk-group.com

then also:

Fahiye ABDOULKADER DOUALE
Sales Executive
CMA CGM DJIBOUTI SA
As agent of CMA CGM / DELMAS
Mob: +253 77 74 46 35
Tel: +253 21 32 00 87
Fax: +253 21 35 35 10
Email: dji.fabdoulkaderdoua@cma-cgm.com


Please note that these are agents of the shipping lines MAERSK and CMA CGM! You will probably need a handling agency. One of the good I have found (among others dealing with CGA CGM) is "Groupe Marill":

Nagla Naguib
Local transit Branch Manager
Direct line: + 253 32 74 13
Standard: + 253 35 11 50
Fax : + 253 35 56 23 / 35 73 35
Email: nagla.nageeb@groupe-marill.dj


And last but not least this one, dealing with the Italian "Messina Line":

Salim Sultan
Societe Maritime L.Savon & Ries
Djibouti
Messina Line Department
Tel (standard) : (253) 21-35 23 51
Direct Tel : (253) 21-35 36 84
Fax : (253) 21-35 11 03
Mobile : (253) 77-81 12 59
E-mail : salim@riesgroup.dj
Website : ACCUEIL

Good luck!
Achim

Thanks Achim for these very useful infos!
I'm also trying a solution about shipping my Land Rover to Djibouti from Marseille.
I've send mail to Salim Sultan/Messina lines and the reply gave me a whole price around 4500E for shipping and receiving the car in Djibouti!
I'm going to try "your" other agencies.
RR.

Hi again,

I've received this reply about 2 addresses you give:
Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:
djimskmng@gsk-group.com
The e-mail address you entered couldn't be found. Please check the recipient's e-mail address and try to resend the message. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.

malyoun.elmi@gsk-group.com
The e-mail address you entered couldn't be found. Please check the recipient's e-mail address and try to resend the message. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.


RR.

Dear roro,

I am sorry that these e-mail addresses did not work! But I am sure the rotation of personnel in a company like GSK is high. My trip was two years ago. I am afraid you will have to work on the following:

GSK Group - Contact Us

Among others, GSK is the mother company of the Premier Shipping Agency, profile as follows:

Premier Shipping Agency

Tel.: (253) 21 35 54 89, Fax: (253) 21 35 79 00
E-mail: djilinmng@gsk-group.com

Which means, that the e-mail address is so similar to the one above that it might actually work.

Wish you all the luck!
Achim

Thanks Achim, for these new email address.
I'm goin' try it.
RR.