Delivery of a 2013 Meridian 441 Sedan from Florida to Sydney

Brief:

To ship a 2013 44’ Meridian luxury cruising yacht from Florida to Sydney

Origin:

Ex-works, Florida, USA

Destination:

Sydney, Australia

Job Specifications:

Freightplus’ Savannah office was selected from a number of freight companies to manage the movement of a 2013 44’ Meridian boat from Florida.   To most procurement professionals, the Freightplus name is synonymous with specialist transportation for mining machinery, construction equipment and heavy industry, in general so it might come as a surprise to learn that Freightplus also manages the international and coastal shipping for boats – all kinds of boats.   Past shipments include roll-on, roll-off shipping for trailered Malibu watersports boats from California to Australia, Fairline luxury motor yachts from ship’s side in Southampton, UK, to ship’s side, Fremantle, Australia; coordinating the importation, Customs and Quarantine clearances for crewed sailing yachts from New Zealand, the full dry-dock refurbishment and shipping of a 400-tonne crane barge from Japan, the on-deck shipment of a 75’ cruising launch to the Middle East, the repositioning of tug boats from Asia and numerous shipments of almost every make and size of recreational boat available.

Freightplus moves upwards of 30 boats a month, many of those through our Savannah office.  Freightplus VP, Lisa Keel, and her very capable Savannah crew, have many years of experience in the international shipment of boats, including shipping boats on cradles, shipping boats on trailers, shipping boats in containers, shipping yachts (sailboats), shipping large boats and small boats.  The company’s boat export services include transporting boats by road or on water to international load ports, completing Customs export formalities and other export procedures for exporting boats, shrink-wrapping boats (wrapping boats in plastic), building shipping cradles for boats, attending the loading of boats onto ships and delivering boats worldwide.  At the other end of the transaction, the company also offers services for importing boats. Freightplus’ boat import services include door to shipping all over the world, escrow services for boat purchases, import documentation for boats, Customs carnets, Customs and quarantine clearances (biosecurity clearances) and boat trucking to final destination.

The shipment of this 2013 44’ Meridian 441 Sedan from Florida is a recent example of a fairly typical boat shipment.  Our brief was to arrange the boat delivery from Florida, by water, to the port of Savannah, for which we arranged a suitably experienced captain with extensive experience sailing the coast between Fort Lauderdale and Savannah.  We built a shipping cradle, coordinated port cranes to lift the boat out of the water and position the boat on the shipping cradle.  Once on the cradle, the boat was cleaned and wrapped with plastic (protective shrink-wrapping for boats).

Freightplus earned the privilege of managing this boat shipment for a number of reasons.  Our costs for shipping boats are very competitive because we ship a lot of them and enjoy preferential buying power with the steamship lines and other key service providers.  We enjoy a reputation for delivering boats undamaged and on-time and, on the rare occasion something doesn’t go perfectly, we put matters right.

Outcome:

This beautiful luxury yacht was delivered to its new owners in full, undamaged, on time, and as quoted.

NB:  In addition to the usual heavy equipment shipping that Freightplus has a worldwide reputation for, Lisa Keel and the crew in our Savannah office have a proven track record, shipping all types of recreational boats, shipping commercial and industrial marine craft, shipping RV’s (recreational vehicles), shipping caravans, shipping 5 wheelers (5^th wheelers), shipping trucks and trailers and basically anything that rolls or floats.