Advise on shipping boat to Australia

[benlui]

Does anyone have any experiance with this? Looking at the options of bringing a shipman28 to Australia next year for when i relocate there. Sailing there not an option! Would the cost of shipping be worth it? Im not sure yet as to the price to do it, but excluding price factor has anyone some do's and dont's about it?

 

[philip_stevens]

Before retirement, I was with P&O Containers, and we carried boats around the globe, and from UK/Med to Aussie/Kiwi, US to continent.

Depending on the beam of the boat, you would either pay for a single 40foot slot, or 3 slots. Slots are 8ft wide - container width - and either 20ft or 40ft.

The boat would sit on a flat-bed container, and your mast would be stowed under the boat. If you are a fin-keeler, you would have to get a strong frame made to fit the boat. Bilge keelers would sit on the keels. The shippers would know how to lash the boat and mast to the container.

You would need to get in contact with a shipping agent to get a price and more info.

 

[samwestwood]

If you wanted you could pay me to sail it there

 

[benlui]

Magknight, i dont think i could afford it lol, and also the time would not suit! But its worth thinking about!!!

 

[William_H]

High Beniull I am not much into bat markets bu think you will find equivalent boats much cheaper in Oz. Certainly if you take into account your shipping costs. You should check on import duties also although I don't think these are a problem these days.

Perhaps you are very attached to your boat. In which case cost will be no object but while you may not find many identical boats in Oz there is a huge range of very fine boats around this size.

Where are you relocating to? good luck with the move olewill

 

[Gypsy]

Some specialist shipping companies can provide a cradle at a hire price or built into the cost of shipping. I shipped a 44' fin keel from Italy to Sydney in Dec 2006 for US$35k water-water. You need to get a quote. Peters and May are well known for yacht shipping. I used Yacht Shipping Ltd/SevenStars. They delivered safely but I did have problems with them originally accepting the yacht as water-water mast up on a special ship then switching to container ship with mast down and subsequent arguments about who paid for the mast unstep-restep. Just be sure to understand that their shipping contracts give the carriers all the choices and the customer very few.

You will need to pay duty at 5% and GST (VAT) at 10% of the duty paid landed cost. You will probably require fumigation at about US$2.5k. This is for potential bugs in the wood and or in the bilge. The duty & GST will be calculated on the value of the boat or a recent bill of sale. If you have owned the boat a long time you will need to get a valuation from a recognised broker or similar. They have to consider what the boat would be worth on the local market here then work back to what that means in net value before Duty and GST. It is not rocket science but a personal declaration of value is not adequate. If you decide to ship, I can give you the name of a Customs broker who is experienced in this type of thing.

As William_H says, there are plenty of 28' boats hanging around on moorings looking for an enthusiastic owner, maybe not as rock solid as the Shipman but very capable all the same. It would probably not make good economic sense to ship your boat but the emotions might overrule.

 

[oldsaltoz]

We have some here in Oz, see:

http://au.boats.com/listing/boat_details.jsp?entityid=19550531

However, I have to agree with others that the cost of shipping, duty, tax, time and effort is hardly worth it.

Depending on your destination in Oz, you Shipman 28 may not be the best choice of craft as it may not be suited to the climate or conditions in local waters.

If you can indicate the area we might be able to give some idea of what type and size boats are common for that area.

I hope this helps. I know it's hard to part with a boat that you have spent many hours and experiences with, but the next one always seems nicer some how.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[benlui]

Some interesting comments there Gypsy and I sure will take it all into account. The big reason I want to transport my boat there is simply because she is only worth maybe just over €25k and in the last 5 months over €32k has been spent on her, and it seems a shame with all the work, new engine,mast,rigging,sails,plotter,radar etc etc has been done and ive not even had a chance to use it!! But i think I may just have to consider putting her under the hammer even dough i dont want to, and trying to find another good boat in a strange area is going to be a nightmare!!
Thanks guys, will let ye know what i decide to do!