Importing by Sea

[HankMcSpank]

HAHA!

But in all seriousness ithink its proberbly the best bet.
?
Do i have to deal anything with customs or fee's or anything like that, ie how do i prove the item is mine when i pick it up etc

The shipping agent should have your contact details & when the ship arrives they'll be in touch. Additionally, you'll likely have the' bill of lading' from the sender in email. You don't just turn up & say...."Mate, if there's a CNC machine on that boat it's probably mine ...gizzit".

You'll have VAT *and* import duty (about 10%) to pay when it arrives (it's unavoidable...but you might want to get creative with the guy sending to see what fiction he can dream up for the accompanying docs!)

I dont think they allow narrow boats on the shipping canal....its for ships????

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!

[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.

[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.