Port Elizabeth
East London
Durban
Bremerhaven
Antwerp/Zeebrugge
Southampton
Since 2002, we have organised more than 40 motorhome tours in Southern Africa and Namibia. Since 2009, we have shipped 4 motorhome groups to and from Port Elizabeth for the Trans-Africa tour.
There are 2 to 3 ships per month. Schedule will be published around 2 months prior to departure. Sailing time is 3 weeks normally non-stop from Europe to South Africa. In case the flight does not fit the vessels arrival the local forwarder can pickup the camper for you.
Tourists are allowed to use their vehicle in Southern Africa without paying any import fees. A Carnet de Passage is required! This can be issued, for example, from your domestic automobile club.
Mobile and smartphones work all over the countries. It makes sense to buy a local SIM card. Almost all campsites, fast food restaurants, etc. offer their customers free Wi-Fi.
Southern Africa offers an excellent infrastructure for traveling in a motorhome.
The supply of diesel is not a problem in Southern Africa & Namibia. AdBlue is available at some places. Fuel prices are about 30% less than in Central Europe. Motorhomes built in South Africa are based on the Mercedes Sprinter, Fiat Ducato & Iveco.
We can provide you with information for filling propane bottles and tanks. The voltage is the same as in Europe. Power plugs can be purchased in South Africa.
Shipping can already pay off for a 6 week trip.
Shipping costs are calculated according to the maximum dimensions of the vehicle:
Length x Width x Height = Volume
Each centimeter counts. If the dimensions have been altered the price may be affected. The freight rate to South Africa is currently $ 92,00 per m³.
We can determine the final costs if we know the dimensions of your motorhome and your selected destination, regardless of the direction.
free and non-binding
For a motorhome with sample dimensions.
Length
Width
Height
Volume
6,10 m
2,30 m
2,85 m
40,00 m³
Freight Rate
Volume
Freight Costs
92,00 $
40,00 m³
3.680 $
Port fees and terminal handling charge in Antwerp € 195,00
Port fees and terminal handling charges in South Africa need to be paid locally about € 550,00
A fuel surcharge could added and adjusted according to the current oil price.
All rates and fees can change until shipping
There are 1-2 sailings per month. Schedule will be published around 1-2 months prior to departure. Sailing time is less then 3 weeks. If the departure does not fit to your flights the local forwarder can deliver the camper for you into the port. The freight costs are currently US$ 97 /m³
For €300 we can offer you a marine insurance for a current vehicle value of up to €50,000, including baggage/content up to €2,500.
An upgrade to a higher vehicle value is possible (eg. €100.000 for €425).
We can still ship your camper FROM South Africa to Europe !
But we are sorry to inform you that we temporary CANNOT offer shipping to South Africa:
More goods are currently being shipped RoRo than ever before and the ports and RoRo ships are all reaching their limits. Due to the high global demand, the ships to Asia & Australia are fully booked several months in advance! This affects our customers, because the boats we would book to South Africa also sail further to Asia & Australia. The shipping company informed us that only the vehicle manufacturer companies get space on the boats. All other vehicles only get waiting lists (only to the destinations South Africa, Australia, Asia). The shipping company will inform only 5-14 days before the departure date if they will have space for a camper or not. The employee of the shipping company said that the chance that they do not have space for waiting list bookings is high, so that your trip would need to postpone on very short notice…
There are also space problems on the way from South Africa back to Europe. The ships are already full when they come from Asia and can load only a few vehicles in Africa on the way to Europe. But on this route we currently get space for a few vehicles per boat if we book about 2 months in advance.
Due to the very high cargo request the shipping company just announced a massive rate increase from 2023. Compared to last year the rate nearly doubled.
In the last months we saw delays of 1-3 weeks on the route to South Africa / Australia / Asia.
Furthermore they send a few boats to Asia, so that at the moment there is only 1-2 boats per month to South Africa / Australia instead of 3-4 in the past. So the space gets even more limited.
Sometimes the shipping company cancels a departure or a port in Africa on short notice.
For these reasons, we have decided to temporarily suspend shipping to South Africa. In our opinion, the situation is unacceptable to know only a few days before departure whether the shipping company can really offer space or not. You can hardly plan a trip on such a basis.
SeaBridge has been arranging shipments for over 25 years and the situation has never been nearly as challenging as it is right now. We very much hope that the situation will get better in the coming months and that we will be able to ship to Africa again at the end of 2023.
At the moment we do not offer shipments to Namibia anymore:
There is a very high risk of theft on the route to Walvis Bay. This is probably due to the fact that these ships stop in West African ports on their way.
Due to this negative situation, the shipping company NMT has decided to no longer accept loaded vehicles. This means that the campers can only be shipped to Namibia completely empty.
As we cannot expect our customers to have empty motorhomes or the high risk of theft, we have taken Namibia out of the program.
Most of our customers have always preferred shipping to South Africa, as on this route normally no other African port will be called previously. The risk of theft to South Africa is low. Furthermore the vehicle can be shipped equipped.
