Motor Home Back to New Zealand

We recently shipped this brand new Swift motor home back to Auckland, New Zealand on our regular direct roll on / roll off service from Southampton.

The vehicle was purchased in May by a couple from New Zealand who have spent the last few months touring Europe.

On the way to Southampton they popped in at our warehouse in Gravesend to drop off some baggage items which they wanted shipped separately on our container service.

Motor homes are currently considerably cheaper in the UK than New Zealand so we have had a regular flow of them "heading South" over the last few months.

If you have a vehicle to ship to New Zealand, please contact Wavecrest Ltd on 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk for competitive rates and further information.

Ferrari Mondial shipped to South Africa

We recently shipped this 1978 Ferrari Mondial to Cape Town, South Africa. It was safely loaded and secured in a 20' container at our warehouse in Gravesend, Kent.

The car belonged to a South African national returning back to Cape Town after working in the UK for a number of years.

Due to his circumstances he was able to get apply for a duty waiver for the car.

If you are a South African national planning on returning permanently to South Africa, you too may meet the criteria for a duty waiver and be able to import your car economically from the UK.

To check whether you meet the criteria you are welcome to complete our free duty waiver assessment form now.

Wavecrest Ltd has been shipping cargo to South Africa since 1994. For rates and further information, please call 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk

Cars for the Far East

Wavecrest Ltd has been handling shipments of vehicles of all descriptions since our foundation in 1994.

Recently there has been a boom in the shipment of new and used luxury cars such as the Mercedes E250's shown above, from the UK to countries in the Far East.

Cars are usually loaded at our own warehouse facility in Gravesend, Kent and shipped through Tilbury, Thamesport or Felixstowe.

This brand new Mercedes CLS was packed into a 40' container with another car and shipped to Thailand.

The car was carefully driven up our purpose designed loading ramp and into the 40' container.

It was then lashed using four ratchet straps to prevent movement in the container during the sea voyage to Thailand. For additional security timber was used to block the wheels.

If you would like more information about loading cars in containers or shipping to the Far East,
please contact Wavecrest Ltd on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk

Another Testimonial

It is always heartening to receive a testimonial from a client so we were really pleased when the following e-mail arrived in our inbox....

Hi Glen,


I just wanted to say thank you to you and your guys. They were brilliant and made the process very easy.


Kira

By way of explanation, we were requested to ship a 20' container load of furniture from London to Surabaya, Indonesia.

Under normal circumstances we would have been able to place a container at the client's premises for loading.

However, this particular client is based on the busy Fulham Road in Central London - traffic warden heaven and a parking nightmare.

To overcome this problem we arranged for the furniture to be collected from Fulham in smaller vehicles and brought to our warehouse in Gravesend for loading into the container.

If you have similar problems with access and need a container packed or unpacked, please contact Wavecrest Ltd on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk for further advice and assistance

Kiwis on the Road to Hell

A couple of weeks ago we received a consignment of three motorbikes on behalf of our New Zealand agent.

We arranged Customs clearance at the port and uncrating at our warehouse in Gravesend and were surprised to find this monster lurking in one of the crates....

Is it a bike or a trike or even a car?

Well it is actually a Can-Am Spyder and belongs to a very pleasant Kiwi lady.

Nice artwork.

The other bikes a BMW (shown above) and a Suzuki were not quite so exotic. The lady and her two fellow companions are currently on a grand bike tour of Europe.

As you can see this is not the first time they have toured (or should that be invaded?) Europe. On the itinerary this time is Hell - apparently it's a town right in the north of Norway in the Arctic Circle.

Adventurous holidays seem to be popular in New Zealand.

Readers of this blog may recall an earlier post about a Kiwi couple who are driving their 1947 MG from the UK back to Auckland, New Zealand via Russia, Mongolia and all points in between.

You can read about it here.

Next Sailing to Walvis Bay, Namibia

Photo by J T Hetzel

Our next roll on / roll off sailing to Walvis Bay, Namibia will be departing from Sheerness, Kent on 2nd September. All cargo will need to be delivered to Sheerness by 31st August.

We are accepting all types of vehicles for this sailing including cars, 4x4's, pick ups, vans, trucks and buses.

The expected arrival date in Walvis Bay is currently the 18th September.

If you have cargo in transit via Walvis Bay to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc our efficient local Namibian agent can assist with customs clearance formalities, on-forwarding etc.

For details of freight rates or to make a booking, please contact Wavecrest Ltd on 01474 331146 or e-mail glen@wavecrest.co.uk

Tragedy on the Thames

Some sad news to report.

On 12th August a tug called the Chiefton owned by a Gravesend based company capsized and sank in the River Thames whilst towing the crane barge Skyline (pictured above).

One of the three crew aboard was lost. His body was recovered from the river on Tuesday.

The Port of London Authority, Health and Safety Executive and Marine Accident Investigation Bureau are currently looking into the circumstances of the tragedy.

Early speculation is that the barge rode over the Chiefton causing her to capsize.

Wavecrest Update - New Zealand, Namibia and.... Peru

A couple of firsts so far this month.

Earlier this week we shipped our first armoured personnel carrier (similar to the one above). For anyone interested in the technical stuff it was an ex British Army GKN Sankey FV432 and weighed in at around 15 tonnes. The FV432 has been widely used by the Army since the 1960's but is no longer in front line service.

The APC was sold to a military vehicle collector in New Zealand and shipped roll on / roll off from Southampton to Auckland. Don't suppose he'll have any trouble finding a parking space at the supermarket!

Due to the very favourable exchange rate between Sterling and the New Zealand Dollar we are shipping vehicles of all shapes to Auckland on a weekly basis. Apart from the APC other recent examples include racing cars, sports cars, motor homes and buses.

Another first. We unpacked our first container from deepest darkest Peru at our warehouse in Gravesend. It was loaded with copper strips and bars in long wooden cases. Due to the length of the cases the client was unable to unpack the container at their own premises.

Fortunately we have many year's experience of handling long length cargo such as this and were able to safely unload the container and deliver the cases to the client's premises in Manchester.

Finally we continue to experience record bookings of cars, vans and trucks on our monthly roll on / roll off service from Sheerness to Walvis Bay, Namibia. For details of our forthcoming sailings please visit www.shippingtonamibia.co.uk or call us on 01474 331146.

Testimonial

It is always nice to receive a thank you from a satisfied client such as Paul, an English ex-pat living in Abu Dhabi...

Hi Glen

Just wanted to let you know I picked up the bike from the port at the weekend and it was in in excellent condition.  Many thanks for all your help.

Kind regards
Paul

We collected Paul's Suzuki GSXR 1000 motorcycle from an address in Kent and took it to our export packing depot.

The motorcycle was then packed in a tailor made export case for shipment to the Middle East.

We have been shipping motorbikes of all shapes, sizes and vintages around the world for many years. If you have a motorbike you would like shipped, please contact us on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk

The Wavecrest Weekly - Spotlight on New Zealand

We have recently handled a number of car shipments on our regular service from New Zealand to the UK. Here are a few pictures...

One of two Mercedes DTM cars shipped over for the owner to use during a holiday break in Europe.

For the same owner, two Rolls Royce convertibles.... At the other extreme two 1957 VW Kombi vans in need of a great deal of TLC!

Finally a 1947 MG TC. The owners, together with another couple based in the UK who own a similar MG TC,  will be driving it back to New Zealand via Russia, Mongolia, China and Singapore.

They expect the trip to take around four months (excluding the final sea voyage from Singapore back to New Zealand). This adventure made it into the national press here in the UK and has also been featured on television news programmes in New Zealand.

You can follow their journey at this link and if you need any advice about importing a car from New Zealand, please contact us on Tel: 01474 331146 or e-mail glen@wavecrest.co.uk

The Wavecrest Weekly No 5

A slightly belated Wavecrest weekly this time as I've been feeling a bit under the weather.

The Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise made a brief call at Falmouth, Cornwall. Amongst other things our local sub agent was called upon to ensure some very important supplies made it on board - six jars of Marmite and 500 tea bags for the Captain!

When you're away at sea for months you need to have a few creature comforts.

As mentioned in the last Wavecrest Weekly, the Government of Zimbabwe will be introducing a maximum five year age limit on imported used vehicles with effect from the 1st July 2011.
We have already booked a number of vehicles for our next sailing from Sheerness to Walvis Bay, Namibia on 30th May. The closing date for this sailing is the 25th May.

This week we have arranged the shipment of a vehicle to Auckland, New Zealand specially adapted for use by the disabled. The vehicle will be shipped roll on / roll off from Southampton. Apart from shipping to Auckland, we also move cargo to other New Zealand ports such as Wellington, Tauranga and Lyttelton.

In the other direction, 6 x 40' containers of cars have arrived at Tilbury on our regular import service from New Zealand. The cars range from 1957 VW vans for restoration to Rolls Royce drophead coupes. I will post a few pictures up in due course.

More news next week.

Picture by Mrbill

The Wavecrest Weekly - No 4

It's been another hectic week.

The Greenpeace vessel Esperanza sailed from the port of Fowey in Cornwall after taking on stores, technical equipment and new crew members for her next campaign mission in the Atlantic.

Later this week another Greenpeace vessel the Arctic Sunrise will be making a brief call at Falmouth, Cornwall to embark her helicopter and take on stores. This vessel is usually based around North America and hasn't called in the UK for a number of years.

Once again we have been asked to arrange the shipment of a motorbike. This one is going to Singapore and will need to be picked up from Portsmouth and export packed.

We are being kept busy with export removal shipments. This week we have loaded containers at our Gravesend warehouse for Lanzarote in the Canary Islands and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Government of Zimbabwe will be introducing a maximum five year age limit on imported used vehicles with effect from the 1st July 2011. As a result we are receiving a lot of enquiries and bookings for second hand cars, trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles to transit ports such as Walvis Bay, Namibia, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Durban, South Africa.

Please call us on 01474 331146 for rates and sailing information.

More news next week.

The Wavecrest Weekly - No 3

Despite another short working week due to the Royal Wedding and the May Bank Holiday we have been kept busy.

The Mercedes car mentioned in the last Wavecrest Weekly arrived safely at Heathrow from Hong Kong and has been Customs cleared and is now en-route to Spain.

The Greenpeace vessel Esperanza is now at the port of Fowey in Cornwall taking on stores and equipment for her next campaign mission.

Later this week we are picking up a Suzuki motorbike from an address in Kent for a client based in the United Arab Emirates. The bike will be professionally export packed before being shipped as a part container load to Abu Dhabi.

Wavecrest has many year's experience of shipping motorbikes of all shapes and sizes around the world. The oldest bike we have shipped to date was made in 1912 and went to Edmonton in Canada. The largest bike we have shipped was a Triumph Rocket which went to the Canary Islands.

At the end of this month we will be unpacking several containers of solar panels at our warehouse in Gravesend. The containers are arriving at nearby Thamesport. Once the panels are unpacked we will be forwarding them to a number of different construction sites in Cornwall.

More news next week.

The Wavecrest Weekly - No 2

Hope you all had a Good Easter break and are looking forward to the forthcoming Royal nuptials.

Although we have had two short weeks we have still been kept busy.

The Greenpeace vessel Esperanza made a brief call at Londonderry in Northern Ireland over the Easter period to land her helicopter, complete a partial crew change and to take on deck stores. Once again we co-ordinated the port agency arrangements on their behalf.

We received a call from a client during the week who had an urgent shipment arrive at Birmingham Airport from the USA asking if we could assist with Customs clearance. We arranged clearance of the consignment and delivery to Nottingham the next day.

Apart from dealing with Customs clearances for sea freight shipments at major ports such as Felixstowe and Southampton Wavecrest can also clear air freight shipments. Not only at Heathrow but also at regional airports such as Birmingham and Manchester.

Later this week we are expecting an air freight shipment to arrive in London from Hong Kong. It is a Mercedes limousine which we will Customs clear and then forward to the owner's holiday villa in Spain.

Tomorrow we will be packing another export container at our Gravesend warehouse for shipment to Durban, South Africa. It will be loaded with two cars, a motorbike and some personal effects.

If you are planning a move back to South Africa and are thinking of shipping your car, motorbike or personal effects, please contact us for a competitive quotation on Tel: 01474 331146.

More news next week.

Easter Opening

Our office and warehouse will be closed on Good Friday 22nd April and Easter Monday 25th April.

We will be open for business as usual on 26th, 27th and 28th April.

Our office and warehouse will be closed on Friday 29th April for the Royal Wedding and on Monday 2nd May for the May Bank Holiday.

We will be open for business as usual from 3rd May onwards.

In case of emergency, please contact us by phone on 07711 090768.

The Wavecrest Weekly - No 1

This is the first of what will hopefully become a weekly blog post about the latest activities here at Wavecrest.

It will also be somewhere to pass on any shipping and international trade news items as well as general tips and other things I stumble across along the way which may be useful or interesting.

The run up to the Easter holidays has been quite busy so far.

Last week we were asked to arrange the urgent shipment of a BMW car from the UK to New Zealand  on the roll on roll off service from Southampton.

Our client (based in New Zealand) had purchased the car from a dealer in Swindon and needed it to arrive in Auckland in time to participate in the Targa Rally.

On the subject of shipping between the UK and New Zealand, we are expecting several shipments of vintage cars to arrive at Tilbury next month. These include two 1957 VW Kombis coming in for restoration and a 1947 MG. The MG is being imported temporarily while the owner makes a tour of the UK and Europe.

We have quoted for several used truck shipments from the UK to Africa in particular Ghana and Namibia. We have regular roll on roll off sailings from Tilbury to Tema and Takoradi and a monthly sailing from Sheerness to Namibia (please see http://www.shippingtonamibia.co.uk/ for latest sailing information).

The Greenpeace vessel Esperanza which we recently co-ordinated in Scotland is currently still in UK waters and we have again been asked to assist with crew changes etc at her next two ports of call.

The recent events in Japan continue to affect the shipping industry. The significant drop in the volume of export container shipments from Japan has put downward pressure on freight rates from the Far East to Europe.

Whilst this is good news for importers in the UK it is not sustainable in the long term. The shipping lines have to be able to make a decent return on their capital if they are to invest in new ships and equipment for the future.

We have heard reports of ships being detained and containers arriving from Japan being checked for radiation following the leaks at the Fukushima plant.

More next week.

Greenpeace Vessel Esperanza Back in Scotland

The "Esperanza" passing Gravesend on a visit to London last year

This week we have been looking after the Greenpeace motor yacht "Esperanza" during a call to the Scottish port of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The "Esperanza" has been operating in the North Atlantic for the last few months and has called in for a partial crew change and to take on stores.

We have been privileged to work with Greenpeace for many years now and look forward to welcoming the new "Rainbow Warrior" on a courtesy visit to London in the coming months.

The new "Rainbow Warrior" will be Greenpeace's first purpose built vessel but will be the third to hold that name.

The first "Rainbow Warrior" was sunk by French intelligence agents in Auckland on 10th July 1985 to prevent her interfering with nuclear tests in the Pacific. You can read more about it here.

Car Shipping Scam Alert

Last week we received a call out of the blue from a worried gentleman in Austria.

It would appear that he had bought a car from an on-line dealer who had agreed to transport it for him from Northern Ireland to his residence in Austria.

The customer paid the dealer EUR 3800 for the car and transport.

A couple of days after he paid the EUR 3800, the dealer contacted him again to ask him to pay another EUR 1900 to cover transit insurance which would be refunded on safe delivery of the car to Austria.

They told him that normally the insurance would be EUR 3800 but the seller of the vehicle had agreed to cover the other half.

Without transit insurance, they said, they would not be able to obtain an export permit from the Ministry of Export and furthermore, storage charges would accrue at EUR 380 for every day the transport to Austria was delayed whilst waiting for the export permit.

At this point the client in Austria began to smell a rat and this is when he contacted us for our opinion.

We had to break the bad news that this whole deal was a scam.

1. He made payment to the fraudulent dealer by Western Union. No bona fide company would ask for a payment using this method.

2. Transit insurance is optional.

3. Transit insurance would only be a 1-2% of the value of the car and would not be refunded on safe delivery.

4. No export permit is required to ship goods between EU member countries.

5. There is no such thing as a Ministry of Export in the UK.

I recommended that he immediately report the fraud to the Austrian Police and agreed to report it to the Police in the UK as well.

I duly called up the dedicated hot line to report a fraud and spoke to a very nice lady there.

She took down my contact details and a few details of the fraud and said I would be contacted by an officer.

This was last Thursday and I am still waiting for that call.... so much for the hot line!

It would appear that the police, in the UK at least, do not consider "small scale" frauds such as this a high priority. Not much consolation to the victims.

The fraudsters' very professional and plausible looking web site is still active today - and probably still ensnaring yet more unfortunate victims.

The web site concerned is called Safe Shipping Express Company and can be found at http://www.ss-express.co.cc

Do not enter into any transactions with this company and NEVER ever pay for anything on-line using Western Union.

You have been warned.

Next Sailing from UK to Namibia

We are still booking cars, trucks, coaches and other vehicles for shipment to Walvis Bay, Namibia on our next roll on roll off sailing from Sheerness.

The vessel is closing at 1000 hrs on Friday 4th March and currently due to sail on the 9th March. The ETA in Walvis Bay is 24th March.

If you would like a competitive quotation for shipping your vehicle to Walvis Bay, please call us on 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk now.

New web site launched

This week we have launched a new web site specifically for clients who wish to ship a car, motorbike or personal effects from the UK to South Africa.

Under certain criteria South African nationals who are returning to South Africa after working in the UK may be permitted to import a car and benefit from a full duty waiver. In view of the high price of cars in South Africa this can represent a welcome cost saving.

We have been assisting clients with their shipping requirements to South Africa since we started operations in 1994. Cars, bikes and personal effects are loaded in containers at our warehouse for shipment to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Cars are also shipped on roll on roll off services from Southampton to Port Elizabeth and Durban and from Sheerness to Durban.

If you would like a quotation for shipping to South Africa or information about the duty waiver, please visit www.shippingtosa.co.uk or alternatively e-mail: sales@shippingtosa.co.uk

Wavecrest Celebrates Seventeen Years of Service

This week marked the seventeenth anniversary of the foundation of Wavecrest Ltd. From day one we have always been based in Gravesend, Kent on the banks of the River Thames.

Initiially we worked from a small office in a listed building (up three flights of stairs!) in the centre of town but in 2002 we relocated to our current premises at Denton Wharf - a former cargo jetty where the annual wool clip from the Falklands Islands used to be landed.

Our office overlooks the River Thames and we have a "delightful" view of the majestic chimneys of Tilbury power station.

The move to Denton Wharf enabled us to operate our own warehouse facility and we now offer a full range of services including container unpacking and loading, palletising, order picking, long and short term storage etc.

If you would like further information about our services, please contact us on 01474 331146 or e-mail: glen@wavecrest.co.uk