Shipping your car

Roro Shipment, Container Shipment, Airfreight for cars:

1. Roll on/Roll off Shipment (roro):

Worldwide most of the cars are shipped on so called Ro/Ro vessels which function just like ferry boats.
These are special ships that were solely built to transport cars and no passengers. Each has a capacity of thousands of cars which are driven on and off board. These shipping lines are specialized in this kind of transport and normally no problems or dents occur. Ro/Ro shipment is the cheapest way to ship a car. Some ports are not equipped with facillities and ramps to unload such car carrier vessels. Ro/Ro shipment is not available for every destination!

The biggest German port for ro/ro shipping is Bremerhaven, but for some destinations ro/ro ships can be loaded at Hamburg port.
For the shipment on a Roro vessel cars must be in running condition, clean and unloaded, just the spare wheel and a tool set is allowed inside.

2. Container Shipment:
A 20 ft Container (approx. 6 Meter long) can hold one normal passenger car. A 40 ft container (approx. 12 m) can hold two cars of average size or even three very compact cars. Some packing companies put even more cars into such containers, but that is a very high risk.
Cars transported in containers must be securely fastened in the containers to avoid damages in case the weather gets rough during the transport on the boat. The fastening services are an extra charge and is generally not included in the freight rates you might receive!
Containerfreight is safe and perhaps the best way to ship a car, but it’s not the cheapest way. The container will be loaded, locked and sealed in Germany and will not be opend until it reached its destination.

3. Cars by Airfreight:
Yes, it’s possible, I’ve done it a few times. It’s quick, but not cheap. Not every European airport has this option, but cargo airports do: Leipzig, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Amsterdam. 



More about shipping a car on a Roro vessel:

– Cars have to be in running condition.
– A car has to be completely unlodaed. Trunk and inside must be empty. Just the spare wheel and the jack. No other goods, no parts, no personal things are allowed to go with the car!
– The car and the undercarriage has to be steamcleaned before it can be delivered to a German port. That is to avoid bringing in seeds or bugs from Europe to your country. Your port authorities may do a kind of soil inspection on the car.

If you need a partner in the German market, please contact me by email:

Richter@car-exporter.de