Importing by Sea

[JAZZCNC]

Have it come to Goole which his the most inland sea port. I have a warehouse there so I'll pop down to docks and pick it up but you'll never see it again. .

[John S]

Indeed, now that I've looked at it...it is (I'm a bloke that brings in a bit of stuff from abroad, that doesn't make me a 'shipping lanes of the UK' expert!) , still it appears to cater for small ships...not trans-ocean liners!

Not just small ships, in the 80's for some celebration they had a US nuclear sub sail up it right to Manchester.
IIRC the average depth is 90 foot.

[craigrobbo]

But if your buying on a budget then it can cope with sampans and junks

huh?..........

[Musht]

Importing via sea can be a whole different ballgame to air.

What your probably looking for is Less than Container Load, LCL, your in a shared container so there is unloading and clearance charges this end, UK, in addition to VAT, duty and the actual shipping charge.

Have a google and a read of some of the business forums and talk to a couple of UK shipping/logistics agents, cost varies wildy, couple of calls is always worthwhile.

Cheers
Adam

[craigrobbo]

Thanks for the info.

One other thing, the company emailed this morning asking if my country requires me to be a business to import by sea.

Is this true or false, in the UK do i have to be a registered business to have things imported by sea or can i be just anyone?

Thanks

Craig

[Musht]

You dont need to be a registered business ,freight forwarders and HMRC are happy to take anyones money, but do talk to some freight forwarding/ logistics outfits, there is a lot of shipping coming in from the Far East and it is possible to get costs down a lot.

You don`t want to be in this position:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/fo...d.php?t=155805

Cheers
Adam

[craigrobbo]

But if your buying on a budget then it can cope with sampans and junks

Thanks for that,

I'll give the seaport a call in the morning, its looking like maybe getting it shipped by air maybe a cheaper option?

They want around £250 for air shipping + vat

[John S]

They want around £250 for air shipping + vat

No contest compared to the sea option.

[Jon S]

Not just small ships, in the 80's for some celebration they had a US nuclear sub sail up it right to Manchester.
IIRC the average depth is 90 foot.

MSC is quoted as having a depth of 8.78 = 28.8feet, of course the average may be more ;-)

[Jon S]

Using a UK shipping agent is the easy answer, they are employed by you and report to you and can tack on delivery options as required within the UK. Easy.