Shipments done by Travellers

After the well known and above described shipping of motorbikes on onion boats from Malaysia to Indonesia has been stopped in spring 2012, it is possible again since summer 2012. It will cost you a bit more, because the shipping agency in Indonesia had to find a final solution with customs and/or the marine. But it still seems to be cheaper and less complicated then the ferry from Port Klang/KL to Tanjung Balai in Indonesia or to send it by cargo with Aseantex to Dumai.

The boat goes every week on Sunday. Loading is normally on Friday or Saturday. We were asked to come to the Cakrashipping office is in Georgetown/Penang on Tuesday to copy passport and cdp and to pay for the shipping. Mr. Lim will get the complete amount and give you a receipt for both parts of the sum. Make sure you take them with you to Indonesia to the shipping partner company in Belawan. On Wednesday you go with Mr. Lim to customs for the exit stamp. When we left there was nothing else going on the boat except our bike, so we had to load the bike already on Wednesday. But another biker was still allowed to load his bike on Saturday, even if the ship had to come back into the harbour only for his bike.

Make sure you get your cdp stamped when you come into Malaysia. It is not obligatory when you cross a landborder, just ask for it, someone will know. But if you leave sea- or airways you necessarily need a stamped cdp. 

The onion boats leave from the harbour in Butterworth on the mainland. You go there with Mr. Lim by ferry and normally he can take you back on his scooter. But it is not far to walk either to get to the passenger ferry back to Penang. To enter the loading area you need to bring a passport.

We stayed in the Pin Seng Hotel in Love Lane in Georgetown, not far from the office. They have a garage, wifi and are damn cheap! 

You yourself will probably end up taking on of the discount flights of Air Asia to Medan, which unfortunately have killed off the ferry service between the two countries with their discounted prices. There is a ferry from Port Klang/KL, where you can get by train. But there is no visa on arrival service on the other side. Only via Singapore and the Riau islands. But you probably wont make it in time (and cheaper) to Medan.

You have to be in the office of the shipping company in Belawan (30 km from Medan, ca. 120.000 ripie by taxi, dont hire one at the airport) on Monday around 10:00 AM:
PT MELDA JAYA
JL. BANGKA TIMUR NO. 49
BELAWAN
Tel No: 77671410
Mobile: +62 82166209122
It's a tiny shop house in a tiny side street in the middle of that small port town. You drive in almost until the port authorities and cross over the railway tracks to your right, then just ask for the street. But you probably have to wait. They need the receipt for the Indonesian part you paid in Georgetown, the cdp and a copy of your passport. If they are shipping bikes in the other direction, they will do the custom carnet dealing in one go. But it is a nice chance to exchange some travel information with them.

The price was for a motorcycle with sidecar.

No box, pallet and straps supplyed by MAS-Kargo.
Just drive in, drop the bike,paperwork, thats it. Verry easy!
Disconnekt battry and drain petrol.
2h in Kotakinabalu und 2,5h pickup in KL-Cargo-Village

No agent in KL needet. First pick up the bike from the MAS-warehouse, than custom house (6. floor). Bring some Petrol, next gasstation is 5km away.

Costs:

400kg x 4,78 Ringgit = 1912 Ringgit
76 Ringgit for Dangerous Goods
30 Ringgit Handling
5 Ringit Airbill
227 Ringgit Cargo Agent (need one for custom clearing)
60 Ringgit Handling Kualar Lumpur

Total 2310 Ringgit = 580€

MAS has a lot of other destinations, and Transmille also can fly your bike or car. http://www.transmile.com/ but was more expensive.

shipping from belawan indonesia to penang malaysia cost 700.000 indonesian rupis in indonesia and 550 ringit in malayasia total cost

the boats leve belawan every tuesday and yuo can coleckt yuor bike one thursday in malaysia leave yuo bike att the office in indonesia one monday the paper whork is done bay the agent

whas so easy no problem same in malaysia no problem so easy great service  

The worst shipping ever!

- delays

- damages

- thefts

- corruption

and...     THEY DROVE MY BIKE!!!

Car shipment:

Details on the Shipping costs and agents at each end. We used a "fixer" in the form of Duncan at African Overlanders in Gordons Bay. This cost us 2000 rand and to be honest added nothing. If you want to ship your car whilst you are not there it would be a valuable service however. If you are in country just do it yourself. We had quotes from various agents and costs were similar. If you ship from PE the shipping time is 9 days shorter which we were not advised of. The boats go from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (PE) and then PE to South Amercia. The container waited 9 days in PE. 

We have no complaints to make regarding either end. The final invoice in South Africa was produced after we had stuffed the car so the bill went up slightly. So expect this. The invoice in South America was fixed and everything was above board and perfect. The language barrier was a minor problem.

The South America agent is part of Grimaldi.

Kenco Clearing
Justin Hooper
Unit C , Parc Dumont, Cnr Railway & Hoist Road, Montague Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 552 6577
Fax: +27 21 552 4235
Cell: +27 83 592 6581
Skype: justin.hooper5
 

COSTS:
HAZARDOUS DOCUMENTATION AND STICKERS 513.00
LOAD AND SECURE / LASH AND STRAP 1,197.00
HAULGE TO LOAD DEPOT 1,254.00
CARGO DUES 1,233.02
TERMINAL HANDLING FEE 1,618.00
OCEAN FREIGHT AND BAF AND SURCHARGES 14,276.00
CTO /NAVIS FEE 114.00
HAULIER HANDOVER FEE 370.00
AGENTS RELEASE AND BILLS OF LADING 900.00
CUSTOMS DOCUMENTATION 570.00
CUSTOMS EXAM AND ATTENDANCE 570.00
FORWARDING FEE 1,824.00
EMPTY LIFTS 570.00
COMMUNICATION 182.40
DISBURSEMENT CHARGES 250.80
TOTAL DUE R 25,442.22 (Approx <$3000 USD)
paid by bank transfer so zero tax.

Plate Logistics S.A.
Martín Schapavaloff
25 de Mayo 702 - Piso 1, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: 54 (11) 4894-0445/6
Fax: 54 (11) 4515-0176
Cell:54 (11) 15-5182-1814
Nextel: 54*141*1953
commercial@platelogistics.com.ar
www.platelogistics.com.ar

COSTS:
Agency Charges: usd 620 (Taxes incl)
Port charges: usd 1580 (Taxes incl)
Customs doc fee: usd 50 (Taxes incl)
Customs Broker: usd 350 (Taxes incl)
Total amount: usd $2600* (Taxes incl)

Paid this in Argentina Pesos as Blue Market exchange rate on changing usd (which we had) is about 28% better so saving us about $500usd off the bill. So Total was reduced to usd $2100. BRING DOLLARS ! AND PAY IN PESO'S!