cost for ocean transportation via ship

[hatteras53]

Just wanted to pass along a very recent quote we received from the largest company that is in the above business. They have vessels that are a floating dry dock and handle the entire process. Our boat is a 44' Nauticat with a 60' mast/12' beam/6' draft. The price is from Florida to Australia. So you had better sit down for the number. Ready or not, it is 49,000 U.S.D. Guess we will be bringing our boat on it's own bottom if we ever make this trip. Oh well, at least now we know the price. It is only about 1/3 the price of our boat L.O.L. !

[Montanan]

Sale the boat and purchase another in your chosen local.

[boatman61]

On its own hull you'd be looking at around 50% of that with skipper and crew..

[hpeer]

Thanks for posting that and providing the feedback. It helps me in my thinking.

[Orion Jim]

Seems very reasonable. About 10,000 miles if they use the canal, 15,000 miles if not. Hire a crew and captain, fully insure, wear and tear, etc, etc, that’s a big expense also if calculated honestly.
Makes chartering attractive......

[Lemsteraak]

Sometimes you can get some good deals by shipping on a Ro-Ro vessel but it take a lot of prep work. Your boat would be shipped on a lo-boy dolly, like a bulldozer or big piece of equipment. To to this, the boat needs its own cradle and be able to be lifted off a truck and onto a lo-boy dolly all at once. Mast has to be self contained, protected and strapped on deck. You also have to have everything of value protected or off the boat as theft is a problem on these boats. You will need to have a broker to lead you through the process and help with items like insurance (an absolute must). Main port of departure, if I remember right is Jacksonville). They bring luxury cars in and use to look for freight out so you can sometimes find a deal.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by hatteras53

Just wanted to pass along a very recent quote we received from the largest company that is in the above business. They have vessels that are a floating dry dock and handle the entire process. Our boat is a 44' Nauticat with a 60' mast/12' beam/6' draft. The price is from Florida to Australia. So you had better sit down for the number. Ready or not, it is 49,000 U.S.D. Guess we will be bringing our boat on it's own bottom if we ever make this trip. Oh well, at least now we know the price. It is only about 1/3 the price of our boat L.O.L. !

Friends recently shipped via a cargo deck load a 46ft monohull from Newcastle, Aus to Palm Beach, Fla for usd$46 ,000. So this quote is not an outlier. This was 2018.

[Cheechako]

Get a freighter quote. Build your cradle. Friends shipped from Australia to Vancouver BC , 44 footer for about $16k IIRC. But that was 15 years ago. Has it gone up that much or is the "specialty" company a lot more than just a freighter?

[sailjumanji]

We have a 38 ft cat coming from Vietnam to Miami on a container ship, mast down, boat on a cradle. Including water splash in Miami, $32k. A 42 ft cat is on same shipment, mast down, on cradle, $38k.

[bluenomads]

We got figures for a 50' power cat on RORO and specialised freighter (craned) last year - Miami to Oz was about A$55k for either boat. Singapore endpoint was slightly less. Caribbean to Europe was A$24-44k depending on company. Given those, we're currently planning on crossing the pond on our own hull!

[valhalla360]

The float on ships are cool but unless you can get a last minute deal, they are expensive. I suspect they are really geared toward the super yachts that can't use some of the other methods.

We checked for our 34' Gemini cat a few years back to go East Coast USA to Europe and it was going to be $20k float on-float off. RO-RO was only going to be about $10k. Only issue for you boat is with the mast down, how tall is it, as they have a maximum height limit on RO-RO ships but they do take some pretty good size equipment so might be OK. (pulling the mast isn't that hard on our boat)

[Sand crab]

I know of 2 38' cats shipped from Florida to Victoria BC for $25,000 and $30,000.

[hatteras53]

Many thanks for all the comments and different viewpoints. If and when we make the trip from Baltimore to Manila it will be for sure on it's own bottom. At that point, it will be part of a circumnavigation ! Don't need and can't afford professional crew. As many of you already know, there are many folks out there who are perfectly willing to come along for various parts of the trip as crew for very little money. They want the experience and love the water too and I am sure that they will be our friends for the rest of our life after this time on the high seas. Sorry but the 40-50 k freight fees are for those with plenty of money and the professional crews are for the mega yachts. Michael

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by hatteras53

Many thanks for all the comments and different viewpoints. If and when we make the trip from Baltimore to Manila it will be for sure on it's own bottom. At that point, it will be part of a circumnavigation ! Don't need and can't afford professional crew. As many of you already know, there are many folks out there who are perfectly willing to come along for various parts of the trip as crew for very little money. They want the experience and love the water too and I am sure that they will be our friends for the rest of our life after this time on the high seas. Sorry but the 40-50 k freight fees are for those with plenty of money and the professional crews are for the mega yachts. Michael

In our case, we didn't cherish the thought of two months on the open ocean (our 40 day transport is on a ship that cruises at 20+ knots, regardless of wind direction), dealing with weather, the Panama Canal, and wear and tear on the vessel. Unknown crew dynamics can be "friends for life" or "can't wait to get them off the boat", and "very little cost" will fall well short of making up for the later. (I was on a trip where the captain had one of each, and luckily it was only for two weeks!) I also think people vastly understate the true cost of ocean transit on their own bottom, and don't consider wear and tear, and the potential high cost of repairs in remote locations.

That said, some people actually enjoy ocean deliveries and long periods at sea. To them, whatever the expenses are just racked up as a cost associated with their love to sail. I can understand that as well.

We OTOH are currently tracking our transport/container ship via MMSI, traveling at 22 knots off the coast of Baha California, and on schedule to be in Miami in early February.

[Luc bulterys]

Thanks everybody for these quotes. I had no clew, and sometimes I wondered if it was worth considering it in specific circumstances.
Well, for such a prices, I will enjoy sailing our boat across an oceans ourself, even more next time. Thanks !