Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) CONTAINER SHIPPING +8 BY SEA

Hi. Shipping my Morgan by container/sea voyage later in the year. Does anyone have prior experience - Dos and Don'ts?

This may be obvious but either remove all loose and potentially removable items or ensure they are listed on the manifest, for checking upon arrival at the destination. My impression is that shippers and docks are often populated by souvenir hunters.
Listing the items may not prevent their going AWOL but it may be easier to convince insurers as required. It's much worse when the lost items are rare and potentially unavailable - Morgan alloy spare wheels, for example.
I've spent a lot of time and money replacing bits on a car that went around the world.

You don't say where its going, but make sure its spotlessly clean with no visible mud anywhere to prevent problems with Quarantine organisations.

I exported a vintage motorcycle to Melbourne and on arrival, a small patch of dried mud was found under the rear guard along with a few critters in the crate. Enough to need the crate fumigated and the bike steam cleaned for a fee of about 250 quid that I'd not planned for!

Arwyn

Other countries may require the car to be "dry" that means all oil and coolant out. Some could have an issue with the ash frame, and then depending on the age of a vehicle you may need to get a compliance check or a permit.

A group including a member of LogMog took 5 Morgans to New Zealand a couple of years ago. Two or three cars to a special car shipping container with proper shipping tie down points.

The cars had to be biologically clean, all surfaces, inside and out, including tyre treads and wheel arches had to be stream cleaned and looking "as new". The carpets had to be removed and all areas vacuum cleaned and under the bonnet there had to be no evidence of road grime, or oil leaks.

Inspection at Aukland took about 30 mins per car. I seem to recall, but am not sure, that the paper work included a statement by MMC that the ash frame had been impregnated with preservative.

As the cars were in sealed shipping containers they packed most of the personal effects in the cars, so they could fly light! The voyage, via Honh Kong, took 6 weeks, but nothing was lost or damaged.

Mine came to Canada in its own 20' container. If you're the sole user of the container then it is sealed at the departure end and should not be opened again until the inspection point at port of arrival, so of the two conflicting recommendations up-thread I'm firmly in the "fill it with extra items to save weight in aircraft baggage" camp. Mind you, I've only done it once and had nothing go astray, and TerryG obviously had a very different experience!

Like Arwyn, I was dinged (by the Canada Food Inspection Agency at the Port of Montreal) for what felt like the most expensive car-wash in history, after they found a bit of mud in a tyre tread. $600 by the time it was done: moving the container "in-bond" through a bonded carrier to a secure facility, washing the car, collection and "safe disposal" of the dirty water, and moving the container (with still-damp car, grrr!) back to the intermodal depot with a new customs seal on the door.

After clearing customs it was then passed to an intermodal depot to continue its journey to Toronto by rail; it ended up in a transfer yard on the outskirts of town from where I drove it out of the container and home to prepare it for safety certification and licensing (I subsequently discovered that I'd been ill advised on this last point and ought really to have had it trailered, but nobody including my insurer batted an eyelid at the prospect of the car being driven around on UK plates for a couple of weeks...).

So, to summarize from my experience:

• Do take a sole-use container rather than groupage, so you can ensure the tie-downs and "dunnage" are adequately secured and can witness the security seal being applied
• Do try and get some sort of certification that the car has been adequately cleaned - try to find out what will satisfy the receiving country's inspection agency
• Do ensure you know what the rules are for driving a "visiting" car on foreign plates, and ensure you have adequate insurance
• Don't take the shipper's standard maritime (shared risk total loss) insurance - use a third-party broker to get the coverage you need

I am intending to do the same later this year, that's how we all get our MOGs to NZ , and you can put a few spares into the container, but as above it pays to be scrupulously clean and put de humidify crystals in her and make sure that it is well secured.

I once went with my brother in law to look at an imported TR4 which he was thinking of buying. Perfect condition, ex dry state car.

Turned up at the importers unit, to be met by a sheepish salesman. Turns out the exporters had just pushed it into the container, no tie downs, not even left in gear.

Result? One very banana shaped TR4!

Arwyn

Thanks everyone for your most helpful responses. Car goes to Jersey City NJ in late summer for 2 months. Driving 4k miles in the Autumn: New England for the colours, Gettysburg and Appalachians as far south as Georgia before returning to Jersey City and shipping home at end of October. Final planning meeting this weekend.

Sounds like an amazing trip. Best wishes.