Warning: This is a dry and rather technical read on the process of shipping out of the US and not likely of ANY interest to the casual reader ( you have been warned ! ). I include it in the blog series more for the benefit of those among our readership ( I know of a handful, but there are likely more I don’t know of ) who are planning to ship their vehicle abroad. I know I always found it hugely useful to have the benefit of someone else’s recent experience whenever I was shipping in an area I was not familiar with, so just “paying it forward” here.
ACL’s “Atlantic Sky” would take our van to Germany. The ship differs from past carriers in that it is a combination container/RoRo vessel. Containers on top, vehicles below.
The passage from Baltimore to Hamburg was certainly not our first rodeo, as they say. In fact this would be our 7th international vehicle shipment and our second one shipping out of the US (as well, our second experience with the port of Baltimore specifically) – it’s fair to say, then, that I felt pretty comfortable with what was in store. Little did I know that things would quickly, and dramatically go briefly VERY sideways !
The shipment booking with Sea-Bridge was very easy and I was instructed to visit their preferred freight forwarder near Baltimore port to present my passport and original vehicle ownership documents on the Monday prior to sailing. With that, and payment of $315 USD in port charges, I was to have received a “dock receipt” allowing me to deliver the vehicle to the port ( with an escort – always with an escort ! ). It would then be customs cleared before being loaded on the ship a few days later. Pretty much exactly as I had done before, both in the US and elsewhere. Or so I thought.
Not this time. Not even close ! The passport was fine, but upon presenting my original vehicle registration documents to the freight forwarder I was told ( in no uncertain terms ) that :
A) they were NOT originals, and
B) they were not even “ownership” documents, but rather “insurance” documents, and
C) there was no way customs (at the port ) would accept them.
Seriously ? They were original ( but did include reference to insurance – just the weird way things work in British Columbia ), had always been accepted before ( at 6 previous ports, including 2 in the US ! ) and in any case there were no other, alternate, documents I could provide. She was adamant and was ready to halt the whole process right there. There was no convincing her otherwise. I begged her to just charge me the $315, issue me the dock receipt and leave me to fight it out with US Customs. I was again assured I would be wasting my time, and that US Customs was very strict…..but hey, if I wanted to waste my time and money then they would happily take my money ( but “no refunds” if US Customs rejected my documents, I was warned ).
Stunned by the rejection of my documents I’ll confess to being more than just a tad nervous as I next met up with the port escort and proceeded to the port. I need not have worried- US Customs were ( as they always had been before ) fast, friendly and efficient and stamped my shipping documents “Approved for Export” without any drama at all. To say I breathed a huge sigh of relief would be an understatement – for a couple of stressful hours there I really was worried that our Europe campervan plans would come unstuck before we even left the US !
Following my port escort, Karen, through the massive Baltimore port to the loading area.
With that behind us, the rest of the day went exactly as planned and exactly as it had at the other US ports. The Ports America staff checked the VIN against my ownership documents, examined the vehicle for damage ( I took pictures at that stage to confirm it was damage-free when handed over to their care ), and applied a destination sticker to the windshield to ensure loading on the correct vessel. I was handed a “gate receipt” proving I had dropped the vehicle and, along with my escort, was now free to leave the port. Almost 4 hours in total but 1.5 of that was due to us just catching their lunch hour. Not the fastest, but in many places it takes even longer. Happy just to have it all done – now just to wait and hope it arrives in Hamburg in the same condition we left it 🤞🤞🤞.
Line up at Ports America RoRo office for vehicle documents.Documents are provided to enable us to enter and leave the port and to confirm US Customs has given “export” clearance. Kind of weird to think that taking a van to Europe counts as an “export” ! They also confirm that Ports America has received my vehicle in good order ( hopefully I get it back like that ).Once documents were issued, the Ports America agent comes out to match vehicle documents to the vehicle VIN and inspect for damage. They also put a sticker on the windshield indicating which ship it is to be loaded on and which port it is to be unloaded at.
Some other items of note for those reading this who may be using Baltimore to ship out from:
A) my port escort advised that they do conduct random full vehicle inspections, but if one was going to be done on ours it certainly did not occur while I was there. Of course they have access to it for the next 5 days so who knows whether it is done later or not.
B) we moved just about everything from inside the van to the lockable rear “garage” area of the van. That way no one has access until we collect it in Germany. While port security is good, the fact remains that your vehicle sits for days with the doors unlocked – better to secure your inner cargo in our experience.
When it was all said and done, I thanked the very patient Karen who guided me through the process in port. Must wear a Hi-Viz vest at all times in port !
Costs
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So far our shipping costs to Europe have been:
Freight: €3,000
Marine Insurance: €300
Port Escort: $150 US
Port Charges: USA $315 US
Port Charges: Hamburg ( est ): €320
Total ( approx. ): $ 4,215 US
Since estimated port charges in Hamburg are included here this should cover everything barring any surprises. Given that we will be a bit late picking the van up in Germany there will be some additional storage charges but those are specific to our timing, and not a normal shipping cost. These costs are based on our van size being almost 43 cubic metres.
With the vehicle all checked in and now parked in the designated area, I checked everything over one last time, locked the rear compartment and took photos from inside and all outside angles just so I had proof that it was undamaged when I left it ( good tip from our shipping agent ! ). Next time we see it should be in Hamburg !
We were told to park near other vans – no matter which port, there are always a few intrepid souls doing the same thing as us…!I have an Apple Air Tag inside the van so I can track its movements ( as long as it is within a cell phone signal ). Handy to know if it actually gets loaded on the ship ( vehicles have been left behind ! )
So with that, the Baltimore port process was complete. Once the ship sails my shipper in Germany will send me a Bill of Lading and I will pay the freight charges, port fees and marine insurance. I’ll then track the ship’s progress until it unloads in Hamburg, late in February. I’ll provide a further update on the collection process in Germany when we get there.
Happy New Year to all our regular readers, we hope 2024 was kind to you and may 2025 be even better. After a 6 month hiatus, Lois and I are finally back at it, however the continuation of our ongoing global van travels required yet another long drive to kick things off; this time, a “return” journey of sorts. You guessed it – right back to Baltimore, Maryland !
Some background first. During a wonderful 6 month sojourn back in Canada, our 2025 plans were firmed up with the decision made to travel first to Europe. The plan was to focus on the Baltic states and Scandinavia initially, especially areas we had not seen in the past or had visited only briefly, and following that we’d head south through most of the states of the former “Eastern Bloc” towards Turkey, again with a view to exploring areas we’d missed in the past. Beyond Turkey, our plan remains open – the Middle East, Central Asia perhaps, or possibly even shipping on to somewhere further afield. But first, we had to get to Europe.
From Europe, so many onwards options……
From the west coast of North America ( where we live), there are really only two options for getting a vehicle to Europe :
A) put the vehicle on a ship in Vancouver or Tacoma, send it to Panama where it is offloaded to a dock awaiting a connecting ship from Asia (to transit the canal) which would pick it up and take it to Europe ( Hamburg, or Antwerp), or
B) drive it 4,800 kms ( almost 3,000 miles ) to the east coast ourselves and ship it to Europe DIRECTLY from there.
As tempting as “A” was ( much less driving and no duplication of the very same trip I had made just 6 months ago ), the theft and damage risk of trans-shipping in Panama, the considerably more complex customs requirements, the much higher cost and considerably longer total duration of this option made “B” the obvious choice – as such, the return trip to Baltimore ( in the middle of winter ! ) was just a cross we had to bear. At least this time there would be two of us to share the driving !
Saying goodbye to our family, especially our newest member – gorgeous little Hadley – was incredibly hard, but we’d enjoyed six months of pretty intensive family time, and even with that we still did quite a lot of Facetiming along the way. Facetiming it will have to be that will help us through the coming months away from her.
This was a tough day !!!!!!Last stop before leaving Kelowna.
Throughout the summer I’d firmed up shipping arrangements with the ever helpful folks at Sea-Bridge in Germany ( we had used them before, from Argentina to the US, so were happy to lean on them again ). SeaBridge specialize in shipping overlanding vehicles to all corners of the globe – the second image below shows our ship to Hamburg, the “Atlantic Sky”. We would depart Kelowna late January, planned on approximately a week to drive across to Baltimore, would put the van on the ship in early February and then we would find something useful to do for the three weeks it took the van to get from Baltimore to Hamburg. More on that in the next blog – but first, a long drive across the United States, once again !
Sea-Bridge probably ship more overlanders than any other company.The “Atlantic Sky” an ACL line combo container/RoRo ship.
While cold, the forecast for the first few days across the northwestern United States called for generally clear and sunny weather, which is what we experienced as we headed out from Kelowna down Highway 33, crossing into the US at Midway and then heading east on the US I90 through Spokane ( Washington), onto Billings(Montana), Rapid City and Sioux Falls (South Dakota) and on through Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and finally on to Baltimore. Below are a few images of the route, the weather and some of the scenery we experienced during the long drive east:
Found a new app to track our route – “Finding Penguins”. So far, so good.Crossing the US border at Midway, BC.Typical road conditions in Washington, Idaho and much of Montana.Not so nice by the time we got to South Dakota.On a couple of days we started driving before sunrise. Pretty to watch the sun come up !
Being the middle of winter, camping options were limited but since we are fully self-contained we only really need a relatively flat space to park and we can overnight almost anywhere. A mixture of Cabelas ( an outdoor store that welcomes RV’ers to overnight ) , the occasional Cracker Barrell (restaurant chain ) and a mixture of theme towns ( such as the venerable “Al’s Oasis” seen below, in South Dakota ), and a couple of State/National Parks provided suitable parking for all our overnights – a few images below:
A popular layover, Al’s Oasis.More states rolled by…..….and more…and more !By the time we reached West Virginia the finish line was in sight.Camped up at delightful Rocky Gap State Park in Maryland, the first of a couple of parks we stayed at.
Arriving in Washington DC ( very close to Baltimore ) just a bit ahead of schedule gave us time to do a little exploring however the weather, having been amazing all the way across ( considering it was mid-winter ), just did not cooperate. Howling winds, a colder snap and persistent rain really limited what we could do there – disappointing for Lois, especially as she had not been there before. Apart from driving around the city and seeing what we could from the vehicle, visits to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Washington Monument and a walk along the Mall were memorable parts of our very short and rain-soaked visit – oh, that and some vocal and zany 9/11 conspiracy theorists out on Pennsylvania Avenue ! See images below:
Washington Monument.The original Wright Brothers “Flyer”, Smithsonian, Washington DC.An All-American classic – original Corvette.It takes all kinds to make a world. Where do they dream it all up ? Near the White House, Washington DC.
With that our ( rainy ) stay in DC was done and we drove on towards our final destination, Baltimore, just an hour away. Here we chanced upon an excellent US National Park ( Greeenbelt ) which provided us time and privacy to repack, clean out and generally prepare the van for shipping the next day. Fortunately the rains eased, making things a bit more pleasant just when we needed it. Ready now to hand it over to the shipping line !
Van prep for shipping, Baltimore.Baltimore.
Stay tuned next week where I’ll document the first part of the shipping process ( delivery to the port ) and outline our plans for the next 3-4 weeks while our rig is in transit to Germany ( spoiler alert – there’s a bit of a twist ! )
The PanAm completed in April, 2022 and with the truck camper sold, we shipped our new Sprinter van to Australia in late 2022. We travelled there through all of 2023 and into 2024 before shipping it up to North East Asia where we travelled for 4 months between Korea and Japan, before shipping it back to North America. It’s our plan to continue exploring the world in 2025.
