Shipping from New Zealand or Australia to USA

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Danmhi

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Joined
Oct 26, 2024
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Location
Baltimore
Hi Folks,

I'm wondering if anyone out there might have some recent(ish) experience sending / knowledge of shipping costs for a boat from Aus/Nz over to America?

I'm currently looking at a 46' trawler and considering the pros / con's of importing it to America.

Many thanks
Dan
 
US to Europe is about $50k. Double that for Australia to US. Probably not much traffic on that route either, certainly not a dedicated boat transport.

David
 
What about import duties? Might want to look into that as well. I would think that's going to be a fairly large chunk of cash in addition to transport. I could be mistaken, but I've also read about boats that can't be imported due to environmental and other regulations.
 
Cross Chartering Yacht Transport lists Brisbane and Auckland as ports of call. I would start there.
 
Why even consider this? Plenty of good boats for sale in America. Without any knowledge of the boat you are considering I am confident this is a very bad idea. Complicated, expensive, time consuming and likely incompatible systems. Other than that might be a great option :) . It rarely even makes sense to move a boat between US West and East coasts (I did so on a 58ft Hatteras and regretted it.)
 
A long time ago we shipped our sailboat home from Auckland, I don't remember the shipping agent but we were hauled from the yard to the port by Boat Haulage, a quick search shows they are still in business. We had a great experience and they were totally professional. They hauled us and another boat to ship side that day.


We shipped as open deck cargo on Columbus lines which is now Maersk. We got lifted up on a flat rack and dropped direct to the water on arrival.
I have since transported using a yacht transport company that lifted direct from the water and discharged to water. This was pretty easy, but its all pretty spendy.
Hollywood
 
Why? unless this boat is exceptionally special for you and you have deep pockets I would advise against it although that does not answer your question. There are a pant load of boats in the US/Canada all up and down the price range. What is your special boat?
 
Tell us more about this statement:
“It rarely even makes sense to move a boat between US West and East coasts (I did so on a 58ft Hatteras and regretted it.)”
 
I had a 1977 Hatteras 58 EDMY in San Francisco. We relocated to North Carolina so ahead of my move I had a well know captain deliver the boat. In hindsight shipping it would have been less expensive and of course less wear and tear. Even better would have been to sell on the west coast and buy a replacement on the east. Of course I do understand the emotional ties and comfort of having a boat you know inside out. If you have the time, boat is well prepared and you want the experience you might be able to save by taking it yourself. But that is a lot of ifs.

In general unless the boat you "must have" is a one of a kind, my suggestion is to buy it in the region (or close by) where you plan to use it.
 
READY said:
I had a 1977 Hatteras 58 EDMY in San Francisco. We relocated to North Carolina so ahead of my move I had a well know captain deliver the boat. In hindsight shipping it would have been less expensive and of course less wear and tear. Even better would have been to sell on the west coast and buy a replacement on the east. Of course I do understand the emotional ties and comfort of having a boat you know inside out. If you have the time, boat is well prepared and you want the experience you might be able to save by taking it yourself. But that is a lot of ifs.

In general unless the boat you "must have" is a one of a kind, my suggestion is to buy it in the region (or close by) where you plan to use it.
Click to expand...

Like Mako, I'd love to hear the full backstory here if you're inclined to share.

Inquiring minds want to know......

Peter
 
Many yachts are built in Australia and shipped to NA. Several come to mind such as Maritimo, Riviera and Horizon. Find out who those shippers and freight forwarders are delivering into Seattle and Miami and you have your answer.
 
We shipped a big ketch from Seattle to Auckland in 2006 and a 50’ trawler from FL to BC in 2008 and then BC to Auckland in 2019. We used Dockwise each time, and it was great. Boat arrived pristine and washed every time. Float on, float off minimizes risk of damage. Expense is related to routing and if there are transfers en route. Dockwise doesn’t service the W Coast but they have a sister company that does. For a 43’ boat to Ft Lauderdale, 75K+ is likely. There are multiple agencies that ship boats on deck but you need to be careful who you select. Great websites and reviews mean little. We got scammed and lost our 25K deposit when trying to save $$ by trying a deck cargo outfit.
NZers sometimes ship their boats to the US and EU to cruise around. But there are many US boats for sale in NZ/Au by folks who got this far and decided to call it a day or who had a custom boat built to US codes here when emigrating and who are now retiring. We shipped our diesel duck here, but we may try to sell it locally when the time comes, rather than ship it back. The new owner would probably cruise around NZ and then ship her wherever.
 
Joining to get @READY's back story. I did price shipping a Kadey Krogen from West coast of the US to here, and I forget the exact figure, but little change out of $100,000 AUD, from memory, and that was pre-Covid.
 
That’d match our experience. A west coast destination added 37K for the transfer and carriage from Golfito.
 
I purchased my Bayliner 4788 in Florida some 14 yrs back and shipped it down under at a cost around $50k with Seven Star/Dockwise. Pretty easy really.

A year or so back, I was helping a friend who was looking to ship a boat from Honolulu and that would have mean deck cargo to the west coast, running it on its bum to Ensenada, to meet/pickup Dockwise there. It was around $70k for Dockwise AND a similar amount to LA or Seattle. There were also issues with barge cranes to load and unload for that Westcoast domestic voyage! Really cost prohibitive.

Certainly Aust boat builders, Riviera and Maratimo ship to the US, so there are options. But in all seriousness, you REALLY want/need to do it for the expense/cost. Certainly the lower Aust dollar helps, but check out the import duty and power issues. Running a 115v boat in Aust is no issue with a step down transformer for shore power for basic battery charging and lower amperage appliances, but the 50/60 cycle issues can trip you up.

Good luck with it! Cheers
 
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