Hei folkens!
Som dere muligens har fått med dere så poster vi grenskryssingsinfo på websiden vår på engelsk. Men! Denne er litt spesiell, så jeg tenkte å poste den her også. Håper det er greit at den er på engelsk.......
I guess this is the first real crux, so to speak, in our travels. However, quite a few travelers before us have managed to cross the Darian Gap either on a Ro/Ro ship or in a container, so we thought it couldn’t be too complicated. And it isn’t! There is a little bit of work to it, of course, but when you book space with a shipping agent, they will help you with at least some of the details.
So here is the story of our second overland travel shipping. It starts with an email from [url="http://www.nordsued.ch"]www.nordsued.ch[/url] that said they got a quote from Eric Hansen in Seaboard for a 40 ft high cube container. The quote was 2210 USD for the container, and a 40 ft would easily let us fit both our Nissan Patrol and their Land Rover Defender 110. Seaboard is one of the big shipping companies, and they have a good reputation. I made sure to verify this with some friends from my time in the shipping business, so after comparing a couple of different quotes we booked the container with Seaboard. The booking gave us one document per vehicle (per cargo unit in the container), and a booking confirmation document for the container (including a description of what is inside). Note that if you i.e. take of your roof rack and want to put this in the container next to the vehicles, this requires a separate booking document (Bill of Lading) for this “cargo unit”.
And then we were off for the paper mill run! The first thing you have to take care of is to get an official paper from the Policia Nacional which proofs that you don’t have any pending traffic tickets or other issues in Panama involving your vehicle. You show up at a police inspection point at 10 in the morning (inspection on weekdays), bringing copies of passport, vehicle entry stamp in your passport, title and registration, and the Panamanian temporary vehicle permit. An officer will check that the papers are correct, check your vehicle VIN number, and then bring the copies to the Police Secretary General. Show up a little earlier and pop the hood as a signal of wanting service.
Here are the Landcruiser of our friends, Toyotours.com, being checked. And make sure when you are crossing the border into Panama that ALL DETAILS in the vehicle permit is correct. The inspector found that two numbers in the VIN number were switched around, and tey had to go to a customs office in town to have the papers corrected. Fortunately, our vehicle permit was correct.
The Secretary General is in another office nearby (Policia Nacional, Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia). These two offices are just across the highway from each other, but it can be a little tricky to drive from one to the other. But you have plenty of time (we went shopping) before you have to show up at this place, as the papers aren’t processed until half past two in the afternoon (the same afternoon). Bring the originals and remember to wear trousers and shoes. This is a public office and you are NOT allowed in wearing shorts or sandals. This could also be the case for the customs offices (we didn’t try it out), and it is in general considered inappropriate to visit offices in shorts and sandals. If you stay at
http://www.panamapassage.com this office is in walking distance, and you don’t need to bring the vehicle.
Anyway, with this paper, together with the booking papers, and, of course, the “normal” pile of copies (passport, vehicle title and registration, temporary vehicle permit), we went to the customs office at the port. This was on the same day as we were loading the container. The Aduana gave us two identical stacks of papers. First page was a new vehicle permit form (looks like the import permit, but saying “salida” (leaving) on the top of the page).The stack also included the above mentioned copies, all now with a customs stamp.
From here we went back to the shipping agent (Seaboard’s port agent) to get the “bill” for the shipping and loading, and proceeded to the local bank to pay. We had been told to bring cash (as this is much faster than dealing with transfers and credit cards). The bank is one and a half block from the agent’s office, so that was quick and easy. With the receipt in hand, we got the rest of the papers sorted at the shipping office. For the whole day we experienced only one small hickcup, which was a printer (for a “sticker”, but it didn’t look much like a sticker when we got it) that froze and wouldn’t start again before lunch.
On our way out for lunch, a customs guy came over and had a brief inspection of the vehicles. Excellent! One more thing done! And then we went for lunch…
After a pizza at a local Pizza Hut, we went back to the office and printed the “sticker” (didn’t look like one…). For some reason this is not included in the “handling costs”, and we had to pay 5,35 USD. Then Senor Felix Cardenas from Seaboard accompanied us out the door and around a corner with all our documents. The customs office, agricultural office, and the Port Company (and Seaboard) are all conveniently located in the same building at the Christobal Port. We stopped first at Customs, then got a stamp from Agricultural, and lastly paid for “port security” at the Port Company window. The latter was apparently not included in the handling costs, and we had to pay 29 USD for two cars and one container. After this we drove into the container area of the port. Following some driving instructions from Felix, we found the loading area and our container.
In the port, on our way to the loading area.
Another visual inspection to check the vehicles for existing damages was performed by port staff, and we got a receipt for this. After some waiting for the lashing crew, we were allowed to drive the cars in ourselves.
The port crew lashed the cargo, locked the door, and sealed the container.
So! The process itself is not really that complicated, but DO schedule in a FULL day at the port as Things Take Time! Count on a lot of waiting, and taking out a book or something doesn’t always feel appropriate. Fold your hands, lean back in the uncomfortable chair, and think about all the adventures to come in South America…
List of all the documents you need, and GPS coordinates for the offices on
http://iloapp.unurban.no/blog/blog?Home&category=7"
Next chapter will be written in Cartagena, Colombia, as we try to get our Patrol out of the container and through customs. More soon.
E&M