The hardest part is to find a good, reliable and reputable car shipping company. It took me almost 4 months!
I probably emailed 20 different companies and comparators. Less than 5 got back to me. Many actually do not offer the maritime route I was looking for -which was ‘anywhere from South Africa’ to ‘anywhere in the Middle East’.
And the ones which emailed me back were asking for an insane amount of money. I know that this industry is such a business and that shipping a private car is not of their interest, so they can ask a lot…
Especially when you want to ship your vehicle in a container (the second and cheap option is RoRo: roll-on / roll off, and no way I do this, the car is not protected at all).
I knew the struggle. I already sent Rafiki from Germany to South Africa. But this South Africa-Middle East route is definitely not the most common one = very few options).
Friends of friends and friends of friends of friends started to help me. I received around 7 quotes, more or less the same prices, but every time: not fixed prices and no insurance.
What should I do then?
Someone from Facebook contacted me and recommended someone he knows in Dubai. A French company. Why not.
They have a route from Durban to Dubai which takes less than 3 weeks, and a cargo was departing soon…
I sent copies of my documents over: passports, carnet de passage, car registration document, driving license, visa for the UAE.
The company put me in contact with a carrier and I had to drive Rafiki to Durban. As you can see on the photos attached, they inspected Rafiki (what it carries, engine and chassis numbers).
We all inspected the 20 ft. container before I drove Rafiki into it. Then, the guys strapped Rafiki (the chassis to the container).
My mission: to track the vessel’s journey until it arrives in Dubai…
(Photos show the process at the warehouse)
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