Air Shipment of boat

[SilentOption]

I need to send a 35' boat from the east coast of the US to Saudi. It will be around 7 feet tall and a little less than 8 feet wide on a pallet.
Our freight forwarding rep came up with a couple of options but nothing that really grabs me.
If any of you have first hand knowledge of an airfreight company you like or think warrants a look please let me know.
Does anyone know if any L100-30s are still flying?
Thanks You can send me a private message or just reply here.

[Pblais]

I think you'll find few here have done this.

[SilentOption]

I be surprised if it was a few. I am only looking for one though and with participants from around the world you never know who has done what or knows what.
Because of work I circle the world about every 60 days spending a week on the waterfront in one or more countries in the EU and Asia.
I have had the good fortune of meeting a few people I have communicated with in online forums. This place is currently my favorite. Sailors and especially sailor women are the best worldwide.

[Weyalan]

I couldn't say with any authority, but I suspect that the cost will be relatively prohibitive.

[David M]

You said a little less that 8 feet wide. An ocean containers inside dimensions are L 39' 5" x W 7' 8" x H 7' 10"

Scroll down and look at a "flat rack" or a "platform". Even if it is 8 feet wide, either could be put topside on top of a stack of containers.

http://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/ocean.cfm

[Evan]

America's cup and Volvo round the world race boats do travel by the big Anatov transports - but the cost probably exceeds the cost of a 35' boat. If you can fit in a container, or a "high top" container, the cost will be miles less. Container ships run regularly scheduled runs at moderately high speeds (like 22 knots). Is it a time critical shipment?

[Ex-Calif]

We ship engines by air. the biggest is 12 foot in diameter. WIth an 8 foot diameter you are ok for cargo hold. The 40 feet is a problem. You may need a front loader. Even a dedicated big side door won't make the turn, I think.

If you can get it inside you are then looking at paying for volume vs. weight.

My ballpark guess is that you need a front loader and they don't go everywhere so it's a dedicated charter. Probably $100k...

Interestingly Saudi Cargo may still have a front loader and JFK to Jeddah might be a normal route. Maybe less than $100k

[stuartcnz]

I work on wharves, loading and unloading container ships and so far every private boat I have seen has been loaded on a flat rack. With your dimensions, it could even be loaded under deck.

[SilentOption]

Thanks for the response. The load is time critical so air freight seems the only option right now. Exorbitant cost has a way of realigning priorities however.

Dan, Thanks for the lead on Saudi Cargo a front loading plane is exactly what we need.
I am tracking on that now.
100K might be right in the ballpark.

[Gibbous]

As long as a yacht is not longer than a container vessel's cargo hold is wide, you can put it below deck athwartships on a series of flatracks. Usually 20's unless the yacht is very beamy like a cat. This is really the preferred way to do it for any number of reasons.

Is the need for this boat really so immediate that the relatively huge price of shipping it by air would be justified? I guess it depends on the perspective of the person who is paying for it, but I would think most people that own 35 footers would rather wait the month it might take for a ship to get it there at a fraction of the cost. I guess I'm just intrigued by the idea of a boat that is so special someone on the other side of the world has to have it at airfreight speed.

[never monday]

Originally Posted by SilentOption

Dan, Thanks for the lead on Saudi Cargo a front loading plane is exactly what we need.
I am tracking on that now.
100K might be right in the ballpark.

all I can say is, WOW.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Gibbous

I guess I'm just intrigued by the idea of a boat that is so special someone on the other side of the world has to have it at airfreight speed.

Did you notice in the picture that someone thinks a POS Mustang convertible is so special that it needs to go by air.

No accounting for other people's priorities, I guess - LOL.

Bill - Did the shipment happen? Just curious.

[stuartcnz]

Originally Posted by Gibbous

As long as a yacht is not longer than a container vessel's cargo hold is wide, you can put it below deck athwartships on a series of flatracks. Usually 20's unless the yacht is very beamy like a cat. This is really the preferred way to do it for any number of reasons.

I'm curious about this idea. I work in a container terminal and have yet to see a boat loaded on a container ship in this manner. Apart from the fact that it would be a very expensive way of shipping, loading it in the first place would not be easy. Just finding the balance point would be an interesting exercise, not such an issue when either slinging it fore and aft from the crane spreader, or as is more common, loading it already secured to a flat rack, on a prebuilt cradle. Generally, if they are to big to go under deck, they are loaded on deck, aft of the bridge.

[Lancerbye]

If you have U.S. Airforce connections you can probably have it flown via cargo transport to Qatar and land truck or trailer across to Saudi.

[Gibbous]

Originally Posted by stuartcnz

I'm curious about this idea. I work in a container terminal and have yet to see a boat loaded on a container ship in this manner. Apart from the fact that it would be a very expensive way of shipping

I work at a terminal in the port of Los Angeles, and we handle lots of new construction coming from Taiwan this way, it's pretty rare that they come on-deck for us. It actually makes sense to load them below deck because in many cases it leaves more useable space for the ship to load containers. Unless it's a small boat on a single flatrack you don't want to load it on top of other containers, you need to be able to lash it directly to the hatch cover. And once it's there you can't put anything on top of it so it blows the entire section of the hatch all the way up. Whereas if it's loaded below deck you can put it on top of other containers so it can be loaded in way that makes fewer spots on the ship unusable. It's also just better protected from the elements.

Originally Posted by stuartcnz

loading it in the first place would not be easy. Just finding the balance point would be an interesting exercise, not such an issue when either slinging it fore and aft from the crane spreader, or as is more common, loading it already secured to a flat rack, on a prebuilt cradle.

No reason you can't still use slings or the prefabbed cradle with this method, though again this is assuming that the yacht is too big to be loaded already secured to the flatrack, as just about everything we handle is.

Originally Posted by stuartcnz

Generally, if they are to big to go under deck, they are loaded on deck, aft of the bridge.

Honestly, I have yet to see a yacht on a container ship that would not have fit below deck. The holds on most modern container vessels are well over 100' wide.

I attached a picture of a large motoryacht we got a little while ago, it's not great but it at least shows how it's oriented in the hold. It's still sitting on the cradle which rests across the flatracks. You can also see that they've removed the bowsprit and part of the rail to make it take up less space on the ship. Hope my employer doesn't mind, if I get fired you have to get me a job down in NZ.