Shipping our Camper to South America
Vehicle Shipping from Central America to South America
[current January / February 2008]
If you have read our reports you should be pre-warned that shipping a vehicle from Panama to Colombia can be a stressful experience - but don't let that deter you from making the trip between North and South America!
A lot of the stress resulted from the size of our camper; if you are driving something smaller, which fits into a container, the procedure is a lot easier, cheaper, and most likely less stressful.
Container shipping is probably the safest option because your vehicle is locked away, whereas with all other options you're handing over your keys and the vehicle is accessible during the entire voyage. The width of our US style camper was the biggest hurdle, because otherwise we could have taken an open-top-container (same measurements as standard container, but no roof, and the bar across the doors can be removed for easy entry - this option is less safe!)
1) = top sidewalls can be forced wider by a few centimeters 2) = top bar (above doors) removable to enter taller vehicles |
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If you find somebody else along the way to team up with and share a 40' container the cost will be roughly $1,000 per party - expect $1,500+ for a 20' container due to all port and handling charges being roughly the same! This option is particularly attractive with one vehicle just over 20 Feet, and one under.
The second option is so-called RoRo-shipping (Roll on, Roll off), where the vehicle is driven onto a ferry-style cargo boat. These vessels are being used to ship new (and used) cars and machinery around the world. A RoRo shipment would have been our preferred option too, because it's safer and cheaper compared to the LoLo (Lift on - Lift off) option we had to take in the end; in most cases RoRo is even a little cheaper than container shipping. There are routes down both, the Pacific and Atlantic coast, of Central America.
BUT: due to a booming world economy in 2007 and early 2008 all ships seem to be booked to capacity, and it's increasingly difficult to get a free slot. (A figure I just read: in Colombia in the month of November 2007 alone were almost 23,000 new cars sold - the majority is being shipped from somewhere else.) So if you desire RoRo-shipping book the journey early (several months in advance - 3 wasn't enough in our case! This will put a lot of stress on your trip because you will be travelling to a deadline.), and make sure you get a booking confirmation!
RoRo shipping is cheaper overall, because you are only paying for the actual size of your vehicle (not the air in a container), and all port and handling charges are less, too. Currently (late 2007 / early 2008) the going rate for RoRo between Central and South America is between $50 and $65 per cubic meter, plus document and handling charges. Beware: these charges are constantly going up, as do the charges for container freight.
In Costa Rica you can catch RoRo vessels in Caldera near Puntarenas on the Pacific, going to Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, and in Puerto Limón on the Atlantic, going either to Colombia or Venezuela. We only know about CSAV and NYK Lines taking cars on board in Costa Rica - the agent for NYK is
Barlovento Agencia Maritima S.A.
Zona Industrial de Pavas, La Virgen Edificio 3
Phone: +506 296 8480
GPS: N 09°56.188' / W 084°07.214'
Contact:
Mr. Alexandro Vargas [speaks English]
Email: vargas[at]barloventocr.com
This Agency has a dubious reputation as being unreliable; we can't confirm this since they answered all our enquiries - only the timing of their vessels was wrong.
An enquiry with CSAV returned that they only take vehicles up to 2.20 meters in height, but we know of people who around the same time have shipped taller campers with them...
The NYK and CSAV vessels, travelling the Pacific, also stop in Balboa in Panamá, so you could book them from there, but we believe the saving is not significant. The only problem is that the port of Caldera in Costa Rica is often full, and ships then don't dock but sail on.
From Colón in Panamá there are regular RoRo ships, owned by Wilhelmsen, going to Cartagena; we could not get onto their vessel because it was over-booked. The Wilhelmsen schedules can be found on the internet, their exclusive Panamanian agent is Barwil (address below). WARNING: we have heard of stories where the vessel first returned to Mexico, hence its arrival in Cartagena was delayed by 2 weeks!
In the end we had to settle for a LoLo (Lift on - Lift off) shipment on a flatrack; a flatrack is compatible with standard containers = it's basically the base of a container. Due to our camper being wider than a standard container the flatrack probably took two container spaces on board (which explains the higher charges). Other LoLo options are a little suss since your vehicle is lifted onto the ship in a large net, or simply with ropes tied to wooden bars under the vehicle frame.
All our shipping, both in Panama and in Colombia, was handled through Seaboard, and in hindsight we would almost suggest, if you choose a simple container or flat rack shipment, to try and deal with them directly (they deal with vehicle shipping all over the world, but most people in Panama seem to be going through an agent, equating extra costs, and we would think you could cut out this middleman).
The agent we have used, as have hundreds of other travellers before us, is
Barwil Agencia S.A.
Galerias Balboa, Suite 35
Ave. Balboa corner Aquilino De la Guardia
P.O. Box 0843-01562
Panamá
GPS: N 08.976331 / W079.522112
Contact:
Mrs. Evelyn Batista [speaks English]
Email: evelyn.batista[at]barwil.com (expect detailed replies)
Phone:+507 263 7755
Telefax:+507 223 0698
Other agencies, we have heard are handling vehicle shipments in Panamá are
PANALPINA
Ojo de Agua, Transistmica
Panamá, Rep. de Panama
Phone: +507 280-1111
Fax: +507 273-7704
panalpina.com [they employ English and German speaking staff]
CSAV (RoRo Service, as mentioned above > Costa Rica)
Calle 50 y Equina 54 Este
Edeficio Frontanae, Lokal 2a
Panamá
Phone: +507 269-1613
Contact:
Ernesto Mock [recommended by other travellers]
Hornline (LoLo Service, also to Europe)
Contact:
Sabine Guettel [speaks English & German]
s.guettel[at]hornline.com
Kuehne + Nagel S.A.
Av. Manuel Maria de Ycaza y Calle 5
Edif Magnacorp, Piso 6,Of 601&602
Panamá City
Panama
Phone: +507 264-2523
Fax: +507 264-1097
info.panamacity[at]kuehne-nagel.com
Kuehne + Nagel S.A.
Edificio Administr. de Zona franca
Calle 29 No. 27-05, Local 3, Manga
Cartagena
Colombia
Phone: +57-5 6607703
Fax: +57-5 6607718
info.cartagena[at]kuehne-nagel.com
There's a completely different option to ship vehicles from Panamá to Colombia using regular banana freighters run by the Chiquita Company.
These boats leave every week from the north coast of Panamá, the vehicle is lifted LoLo inside a large net... This option is supposed to be very cheap!
Unfortunately I have lost/deleted the information prematurely - sorry!
For customs procedures and other help at import into Panama, only in German, we received a recommendation to use
Profesor Peter R. Wolf, from the Centro Cultura Aleman,
email: prwolft[at]hotmail.com
Tel. +507 225-1926
or +507 260-3923
The following shipping agent has been highly recommended in Cartagena, going the opposite direction:
Luis Ernesto La Rota - email: enlacecaribe[at]enred.com
>> Page 2: The procedure in Panama >>
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