the hard facts
It’s a long and annoying process but also an adventurous experience - try to stay positive and always know that your fixers have their title for a reason.
STEP 01
Finding your shipping agency/ fixer in Greece and Egypt.
You won’t be able to complete the process on your own, here’s who we’ve worked with:
Contact Greece: Xanthi Nannou nannou@minoan.gr
Documents needed: Carnet de Passage / Passport / Car Licence papers
Contact Egypt: Nermien Mamish nermien_mamish@cfsegypt.com
Documents needed: Carnet de Passage / Passport / Car Licence papers / Draft of
the Bill of landing (you get this after confirmation of your vessel)
STEP 02
Getting your vessel confirmed
Usually you get your vessel confirmed 2 weeks in advance in order to make it to the harbor in time. However, we made the experience that within the whole cargo/ shipping business you need to be very flexible (probably even more so due to COVID-19). After 2 vessels got cancelled, we finally had a confirmation 1 week prior to shipment. This was the lead time to get to Piraeus and pay the fees to the agencies.
STEP 03
Handing over the car at Piraeus Port
You will need to get your car to the port one day before vessel departure and take care of customs with your fixer (this only took about 30 minutes).
The agency will tell you to take out all your belongings which - if you are overlanding - is not possible. Since our car doesn’t have a separate compartment we can lock, we stowed away everything as good as possible. Unfortunately, we made the experience that things got stolen, all of them replaceable but nevertheless with a total worth of about 350 Euro.
Then you leave the car with the keys in the ignition in the parking lot. You can track your vessel on www.vesselfinder.com and make sure it stays on route.
STEP 04
Get your car out of the port in Alexandria
This will take you 3 - 4 days, during which you are busy the entire time following your fixer to various offices around the city and port of Alexandria. This includes:
Getting temporary citizenship and port access licenses
Paying port fees at the Marina Shipping Agency
Getting your Carnet stamped by the Egyptian Automobile Service in Cairo (usually in Alexandria, apparently due to COVID-19 now only possible in Cairo)
Getting your Egyptian license plate and insurance card
Having the car checked for chassis numbers
the COSTS
Shipping incl. customs Greece: 645.60 EUR (depending on size and weight of the car)
Customs Clearance in Alexandria: 840 EUR (including all costs on-site and car insurance)
Port fees: 75 EUR (can be paid cash or the agency can take care of it)
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