How do I ship a vehicle from Bulgaria to Canada?

[cannedcruiser]

Wasn't sure where to post this, so I'm trying here.

Wanting to ship an HZJ78 internationally (Bulgaria to Canada) for the first time. Hoping someone here may have experience in this to share.

I'm on the west coast of Canada. My thought is that shipping from Bulgaria to Montreal and enjoying the drive home to Victoria (I'm guessing roughly $1000 - 1200 spent on diesel over 5000Kms) would be cheaper than shipping all the way home. I understand containerizing it is far safer, potentially twice the price vs ro-ro (roll on - roll off). Also, in a container you can pile in all kinds of spare parts, etc. whereas with ro-ro nothing that is not attached to the vehicle can accompany it.

I've considered flying to Bulgaria and renting a room on the freighter that my vehicle is on to ensure arriving in Montreal at the same time. I have read this is possible on many ships.

Any experienced tips/tricks regarding alternatives, safety, cost savings, companies to use, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to your replies.

Todd

 

[moggy1968]

Have you thought about driving it to somewhere like Rotterdam or Liverpool then ship from there?

 

[SimonD]

I agree with Moggy. German/Dutch or UK ports will have the better deals and people on the forum will know contacts. That said try someone like https://www.msc.com/bgr/about-us for a quote at least and then we can help with Northern Europe comparative prices. Container is better than RORO for sure.

 

[cannedcruiser]

Have you thought about driving it to somewhere like Rotterdam or Liverpool then ship from there?

I have been looking at Rotterdam. All the shipping companies I have tried to pry info out of have told me they have no agents shipping out of Bulgaria. I could take a month to cross 17 countries to make an adventure out of it.

 

[cannedcruiser]

I agree with Moggy. German/Dutch or UK ports will have the better deals and people on the forum will know contacts. That said try someone like https://www.msc.com/bgr/about-us for a quote at least and then we can help with Northern Europe comparative prices. Container is better than RORO for sure.

Thanks for the link, I have sent a query to them and hopefully will get back more than a one or two word reply like several other shipping companies I have tried (probably due to the language barrier). Getting specific details on all costs is proving very difficult so far, but it is starting to trickle in.