Look on the PanAm overlanders’ blogs and Facebook groups, you’ll find a trillion accounts of Darien Gap vehicle shipping for overlanders heading south from Panama to Colombia. Far fewer accounts will be found about shipping north. In fact, on our search for blogs we found the grand total of zilch. For various reasons, south-bound down the PanAm is a far more popular route than north-bound. So if you fancy being a bit of an overlanding devil-rebel, kicking the trend with the bad-boys and going north instead of south, here’s what you need to know.

There is no ferry around the Darien Gap any more. The options, depending on the size of your vehicle are: roll-on roll-off (RORO) shipping, container or flat-rack (see Shipping about choosing this). We sent our Cuthbert on his Caribbean cruise by RORO shipping. This has some similarities, but also a few differences from container or flat-rack shipping. We booked through UK agent IVSSUK in January 2018, who appointed local agents in both Cartagena and in Colon for us.

Booking the shipping

Shipping can be booked around 3-4 weeks in advance, but you should try to get quotes (it’s not a cheap route!!) and make decisions about shippers and agents some time before this. To make the booking, the main shipping companies are reluctant to deal with the public directly. We have heard of some people managing to book directly, but generally it seems to be necessary to use an agent at least to make the booking.

We found using a booking agent easier because:

• The shipping lines aren’t great at customer service for individual travellers and an agent helps to keep you informed of delays etc.
• For us as Brits, using a British agent allowed us to make payment for the shipping by on-line bank-transfer. We met several travellers struggling to withdraw enough cash to pay local shipping offices.

To book, we had to send email copies of: the vehicle registration, the current TIP and the owner/driver’s passport (the picture page and the page with the Colombia entry/extension stamp).

Local Agents

Local customs and handling agents are not essential at either end of the shipping and you could certainly manage without these. But we think it’s worth letting someone else take a bit of the stress if you can squeeze it into the budget. This is particularly the case if you have a larger vehicle.

A couple of the offices that you need to visit for paperwork in Cartagena are down small side-streets with limited access and parking. They are marked in iOverlander, so it would certainly be possible to go there yourself, but the agent took us around to these. We thought how much hassle it would have been had we tried to do this in our own truck, in the sticky, airless heat of Cartagena’s back-streets. These offices are out of town towards the port area, not near the main tourist area where you would want to stay; so the cost of taxis to do this yourself would also add-up.

Vehicle Departure Admin and Process

Process Day 1 – Port Admin

• A few days before shipping we reported to the agent’s office without our vehicle, but with the originals of our documents. There was a bit of form filling, then the agent took us across town to the Port Office. On the way there he stopped at an office to get a Customs stamp on the documents. He left us waiting in the comfort of a nice air-conned car (with the engine running) whilst he sorted this for us.
• At the Port Office the agent introduced Marcus to the port officers for a bit more form filling, but the agent is not allowed to go through to the security area. The owner/driver of the vehicle must do this alone. It’s a simple process, but expect considerable waiting around here. There is an air-conned seating area in the lobby of Port Office where others can wait for the driver to return. If you didn’t get breakfast, across the junction is a fuel station with a coffee machine and snacks. The waiting time at the Port Office was around 1.5 hours but the whole process took all morning – around 4 or 5 hours.

Process Day 2 – Vehicle handover

• A couple of days later (exactly how long apparently depends on any last-minute delays to the shipping schedule, which are common) we reported to the agent’s office again, this time with our vehicle. The agent escorted us across town in convoy to a port area (a different one to one we visited before). This was to drop the vehicle off in the Port compound, so the truck needed to be prepared ready for shipping (see below).
• At the port, the agent introduced Marcus at the barrier, but the agent was not allowed to go further with him. Again, only the owner/driver is allowed in to the secure area. First the officers check the vehicle chassis number and engine number against the registration documents. Then the owner/driver takes the vehicle through to the ship-loading zone and hands the keys over to the port workers.
• There is a port-workers’ canteen nearby outside the secure area, where others can get a coffee and wait for the owner/driver. The waiting at the port took a couple of hours, but the whole process took around 4 hours.
• We had previously heard from other travellers that access to the port for vehicle handover would be conditional on showing proof of personal insurance. Apparently, there is an office nearby where cover can be bought if you need it (i.e. if your existing travel insurance policy is insufficient) but we were never asked for it at either of the ports.

Process Day 3 – Narcotics Inspection

• A few days later, we reported to the agent’s office again, who then took us across town to the port area vehicle compound. The narcotics inspection is done no more than 24 hrs before the ship departs. Again, only the owner/driver is allowed into the compound.
• Drivers must wait by their vehicle. First, some port workers came and told Marcus to empty the whole vehicle out onto the floor in readiness for the arrival of the customs officers. He was reluctant to do this. Like most overlanders, we have an awful lot of stuff. Marcus really had no intention of getting everything out unless ordered to do so by Customs Officers. He showed willing and took out a couple of his tool boxes from the back lockers, but was concerned that the port workers seemed to be paying an undue amount of attention to what was in the boxes and where they were stored within the vehicle. Hmmm.
• When the Customs Officers arrived, they were more relaxed than the port workers. They had a quick look around the truck but were more interested in the vehicle itself!! They wanted to sit in the driver’s seat and turn the ignition on to see how it sounded 😊
• Finally, you put the seals (official stickers) over all the openings of the vehicle (except the driver’s door where the port workers will have to drive the truck onto the ship). We obtained the stickers from our agent as part of the price. If you don’t have an agent, you need to buy these yourself for around $2 each.
• The whole thing takes 4-5 hours. Once that’s done… say farewell to your beloved truck and wish him a happy Caribbean cruise to Panama.

Delays

If for some reason, your ship departure is delayed and it doesn’t sail within 24 hours after the narcotics inspection, it is possible that the owner/driver will need to attend the port again to be present for another inspection. Maritime freight-shipping schedules are notoriously flexible, no guarantees are given about departure/arrival dates. For this reason, it’s not advisable for the owner/driver to leave Colombia before the ship sails, which inevitably impacts on your personal travel plans (see below). Our shipping was delayed three times from the original departure date that was expected at the time of booking. The delays caused the narcotics inspection to slip by 3 days, but luckily there were no delays after the narcotics inspection.

Prepping the Vehicle for Shipping

There’s not a lot to this, but a few normal/basic rules should be followed:

• The vehicle should be basically clean. No particularly high standard, but it’s likely to be rejected if it’s covered in mud. There are several truck-wash places marked on iOverlander.
• Gas (propane) tanks must be empty and should have a gauge showing this. In theory the port officials could ask for an independent certification process to be carried out to confirm the tanks are empty, but we were told by the agent that in practice they never ask for this. We ensured we had empty tanks, but on the day they never even checked the gauges.
• Fuel tank should be no more than ¼ full.
• For security with RORO it’s best to have your living area secured from the drive-cab. We have a lockable door between these. If you don’t have this, you may want to look at installing some kind of temporary wooden panel. Even though our living area is secure, we decided to take our valuables away with us, including lap-tops, cameras etc.

Note on emptying the camper: it’s sometimes said to be a ‘rule’ with camper-van RORO shipping that the vehicle should be empty of all personal effects and contain only items deemed ‘part of’ the camper (e.g. essential tools). We have heard of other travellers having problems on other routes. In our experience of now four times commercial RORO shipping, we have not had a problem with this. Once in Bremerhaven when we shipped to Africa, we were asked to hide cushions/bedding and empty the bathroom cabinet, but it was easily done at the port. Here in Cartagena, the issue did not arise and we shipped with almost all our personal effects in the truck (save for the few things we took as hand luggage on the flight).

Getting Yourself to Panama

Sailing

We heard from many south-bound travellers about the 5 day cruise that runs back and forth between Cartagena and Colon. The route includes the idyllic San Blas islands; it sounds marvellous and we were keen to do this. The small snagette for north-bound travel, is that you don’t have the luxury of time to do this. I guess it depends on the shipping line, but the Hoegh ships (the cheapest at the time that we received quotes) seem to do a circular route around the Caribbean. Heading south, they leave Panama, then drop-in at Mexico and various islands before docking in Cartagena five or six days later. Heading north out of Cartagena, it goes directly to Colon taking only around 24 hrs.

So unless you want to have your truck off-loaded in Colon and then sat waiting for several days on the Colon dockside for you (not advisable for security), you don’t have the luxury of time to do the San Blas Islands cruise to Panama.

Flying

There are various options, schedule and budget airlines. The problem is the very high risk of shipping delays (see above), so we considered two options:

• Booking a budget ticket at last minute. Obviously, the risk with this is not getting a seat. This risk will depend on whether you are travelling at a busy time. We didn’t want to risk not being able to get a seat when we wanted it.
• Booking a flexible ticket. This is more expensive on the face of it, but not as expensive as booking and re-booking a cheaper non-flexible ticket. We chose this option and with hindsight, are glad we did. For us, it was important to be in Panama, ready to receive our truck as soon as possible after it arrived in Colon. The highest crime-risk point in vehicle shipping is often said to be when the vehicle is parked unattended in the port, so we wanted to minimise this. However, we couldn’t simply book a ticket to leave Colombia early and wait a few days in Panama, because there is a high risk of the departure date changing (including the risk that Marcus may have to attend the port again pre-departure for another narcotics inspection). Given that the shipping time is only 24 hrs, we really needed to fly on the same day as the ship left. Our shipping was delayed three times from the original departure date and we ended-up re-scheduling our flight three times. Had we booked cheaper, non-flexible tickets we would have had to re-book (and re-pay) three times.

Note on onward flight tickets: we were pre-warned that when flying into Panama, anyone without a residency permit for Panama is required at check-in to show proof on onward travel out of the country. Some English chaps who flew a few days before us were not only required to have onward travel tickets, but the tickets had to end in their home country, or a country for which they had a residency permit. As a precautionary measure, we bought an on-line ticket with Expedia from Panama to UK which was cancellable within 24 hrs at no charge. When we checked-in for the flight to Panama we were indeed required to show these tickets and the lady put the full details of our onward flight into the check-in computer.

Arrival in Panama

We flew into Panama and took a hotel near the airport. Because of the delays leaving Cartagena, the shipping (and therefore our flight) ended up being on a Saturday. Of course, nothing would happen on the Sunday, but we transferred over to a hotel in Colon ready to get our truck on Monday.

Unfortunately, the system worked against us for 24 hrs. It is apparently standard practice with marine cargo that invoices are not issued until the ship departs. At the destination, the cargo is not released until the invoice has been paid. When a shipping time is only 24 hrs and it happens on a Saturday, there is no time for the invoice to be issued and paid before Monday.

So we had to wait around in Colon on Monday whilst Hoegh issued the invoice and our UK agent paid. Then the agent had to personally attend the offices in Panama City to collect a document authorising the release. (Note: We guess that if you don’t use an agent, you will have to collect this document yourself. There is probably no point in going to Colon until you have this paper). So we had an extra night in a hotel, but Tuesday morning the agent collected us from the hotel to go to the port.

First, we stopped at the Aduana/Customs office (marked on iOverlander) where he took us through the import process. Then he drove us to the collection point. Whilst he took Marcus into the port to get the truck (again, only the owner/driver is allowed in to the vehicle area) I waited outside the gates in the cool of the agent’s nice air-conned car (engine running). The agent had already pre-arranged vehicle insurance for us. The whole arrival process took around 2 hrs and then we were free to explore Panama. Happy days 😊

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RIGHT-HAND DRIVE VEHICLES: as at the time of writing (March 2018) there are several countries in Central America (incl. Panama) which do not allow right-hand drive vehicles on the road (although our Cuthbert is UK registered, we chose left-hand drive for this reason). Check the latest position before shipping. Current popular practice for most RHD vehicles, whether north-bound or south-bound, is to ship directly between Colombia and Mexico.

Useful Links for Darien Gap Vehicle Shipping

Our booking agent was Martin MacGowan at IVSSUK (www.IVSSUK.com)
In Cartagena we used Enlace Caribe (www.enlacecaribe.com)
In Colon we used Boris Jaramillo at Ever Logistics (boris_jaramillo@hotmail.com)

For our other vehicle shipping pages see: Shipping

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