I left off part one of this journal with the cliff hanger: What More can possible go wrong? Never challenge the gods. After the fire at the Port of New Jersey that shuffled ship schedules and forced Bene onto a ship arriving almost a month later than planned, the port authorities put a hold on the loading of all POV (privately owned vehicles) on Ro-Ro ships. Confronted with the options of either waiting indefinitely until the hold was lifted or having the car trucked to Baltimore for an alternate Ro-Ro ship I gave up and asked to have Bene transferred to a container. Hopefully that will put us back on schedule, more or less, but at more than double the cost. Ugh!
So it’s only money; right? How much money? Actually this is usually the first question I am asked whenever travel is mentioned.
It depends: My only experience is shipping by sea. The two options are Ro-Ro (roll on- roll off) and container. Ro-Ro simply means that the car is driven onto a ship that is essentially a floating parking lot. It is the least expensive option but also the most risky. Insurance will only cover total loss.
Container is what it sounds like. The car is put in a large box which is loaded onto the ship. There are “shared containers” with more than one vehicle and single car containers. My only experience is with the single version. Container service is more expensive since the car must be fitted to and removed from the container. Container is considered less risky and damage insurance is available. I have only opted for container on one previous trip and ironically that was the only time BENE incurred damage.
Whichever you choose you will need the services of a shipping broker. Since 2012 I have used All Shore Forwarders, Ltd. Susan Silverman and her colleague Jason Chachich have been extraordinarily helpful (732) 212-1515, ssilverman@allshorefwd.com). Susan refers to me as her most needy client; a title I take pride in.
The following numbers are from my invoices for both Ro-Ro and container service one way Newark NJ to Southampton UK. NOTE: The return trip usually runs about $500 more.
UPDATE 2025: Of Course all of these numbers are from 2023. Costs never go down so it is best to check with a broker. Insurance options have changed since I first wrote this. Hagerty was not able to insure Bene for our 2024 trip so we used Tourinsure mailto:service@tourinsure.de .
That about covers the cost. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY.
A few other details:
We ship to and from England because it is convenient. Usually the car arrives at Southampton and after Susan’s agents get it cleared it is trucked to Melvyn Rutter’s garage in Little Hallingbury. Having Melvyn receive it means that we do not have to time our flights to match the very variable ship schedule. Also, a big also, should any damage occur during transit his staff can fix it. We then arrive at our convenience and stay at his PIT STOP B&B for a night or two before heading off.
You can drive your own car in Europe with your American registration and driver’s license. There is a six month time limit after which the car is subject to import taxes and local registration requirements ($$$!). There is a loophole that we have taken advantage of. The 6 month ‘clock’ is only ticking while both you and the car are in the EU. The time our car spends in storage and we are home does not count. Although not necessary we get an International Driver’s license from AAA.
As I write this the ship with Bene on board is 13 hours from Southampton and we are 6 days from our planned reunion. What more can possibly go wrong?