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Home » Moving Overseas » Shipping options when moving house from Australia

Shipping options when moving house from Australia

Now that you have decided to move, a big question is “how do I do this, and what are my options and costs?”

Basically, you need to decide what it is you want to happen, and then give us a call to talk about the how and when, and the costs involved.

Our services are best for anyone who is paying for this themselves, and does not mind doing a little bit of the work themselves. And, anyone (or a family) who wants to move their whole (or a major part of) their household to another country.

We can only send a container to the port at destination.

We do NOT have facilities to handle any customs issues at destination, or any door deliveries. Consider that you need to have a representative at the other end to act on your behalf and more or less do the reverse of what happens here.

So, presuming this decision has been made, there are three basic options for you:

1) self pack container

2) container packed at our depot

3) your “OWN” container

Self Pack Container

1) Probably the best and cheapest option for you, is for you to pack your the container here yourself.

There are some rules and regulations that may or may not allow you to do this (these will be covered as a separate notation), but presuming you can do this, then this is always the cheapest and best option for you.

The shipping line will provide us with a container; we can then deliver the container to you, you pack the container, and then we pick up the full container and deliver this to the vessel for shipping.

Just consider that if you pack the container yourself, the walls of the container form part of the packing for your items.

Inside the container there are a number of tie down points on the walls and floor.

You need to make sure that all of your items are secured and protected. Bear in mind that the vessels may encounter 20 meter swells, and you do not want the contents of your container moving around or ending up as matchwood at the other end.

It will be your responsibility to provide all of the packing and securing for this – things such as extra blankets, ropes and the like.

Container Packed At Our Depot

2) Similar, except that you arrange a removalist to take the goods from your home, and they then bring these goods to our container depot, and they transload the goods from their vehicle into the container for shipping.

We would arrange to have the container at our nominated depot in the metropolitan area, and take the container to the port for shipping after your removalist has packed the container.

This can be an extremely good option for anyone who either cannot or does not want to pack their own container.

This is a great option for anyone outside of the metropolitan area who is looking to relocate overseas.

Bear in mind, that if you choose this option, then it will be your responsibility to provide the removalist with blankets and other items to secure the goods.

The removalist will not provide these items as they are they will not get them back. This is always a good way to use your own blankets and linen – just requires a wash or disposal afterwards.

Buying Your Own Container

3) Purchase your own container. Either option above, except that you have purchased (or we can do it for you) your own container.

This may be a good option if you do not know what accommodation you have at the other end, or you will need extra storage.

This will cost you here, but there is always the consideration of peace of mind, ease of doing this, and then selling the container once you have finished with it.

Just consider that there are a few compliance issues you will have to deal with, and its not as simple as just going out and purchasing or shipping any old container.

We can assist you with you making the best decision for yourself.

However you do this, we will arrange the shipping to the port of the country to where you are going.

All the charges up to this point are prepaid, and the destination port and shipping line charges can be paid here or there – up to you. What we cannot control is what happens after that.

Also consider that the shipping lines usually only allow 3 free days at the destination port before there will be port demurrage charges, and then about 10 free days from the date of the vessel arrival until the return of the M/T container before they charge you container detention.

So, its not like you can use a shipping line container and then you have unlimited time and use of this container.

And, in many cases, the shipping line will actually ask you for a substantial deposit for the container to enable you to remove this from the port, which you would claim back after you have returned the empty container.

If you are not sure what is going to happen at the other end, then this may be another reason for you to purchase your own container.