Thinking About Moving Abroad?

A guest post written by: Rosie Cubbin of CS Shipping Containers

If you are thinking about moving abroad, depending on your final destination, there are a three main ways to move your home contents – by air, by road or by sea.  

If you decide to ship your items it will obviously take longer for them to arrive at their  destination although it will save you money.   When you are trying to decide which method to choose, look at all the options in terms of both cost and time.  

You can undertake the whole move yourself, or pay an international mover such as Wavecrest to take care of it for you.   Much will depend on your budget but, even if money is tight, it could be worth talking to them as there are various options available that mean you can take on some of the process yourself and keep that all important price down!

If you do decide to move your effects by sea, you will probably use shipping containers. These are available to buy or hire and are made of corten steel.  These steel containers are extremely rust resistant (very important for anything having to resist the salt in the sea).  The shipping containers can be delivered to your home so that you can pack your belongings yourself or you can have your belongings  delivered to the Wavecrest depot in Kent so that they can pack them safely in a container for you.

If you do elect to buy your own shipping container – and many people do – you may find it extremely useful in your new country.   Many people use it for additional storage space or as the basis of a container conversion.   But whatever you decide to do with it you must make sure that your container is sea worthy.   The phrase CSC plated is often used and all this basically means is that the shipping container is suitable for shipping rather than purely for storage purposes.   CSC stands for “Container Safety Convention” and the plate is usually attached to the shipping container doors, acting almost as the equivalent of a passport for the container.  Second hand shipping containers that are over 5 years old, can be tested and awarded a certificate (Shippers Own Certificate) that needs to be presented to the shipping line.

But how do you decide which size of all the shipping containers available will take all the contents of your home?  I always find that the best way is to ask Glen or Charlie at Wavecrest.   However, the standard sizes are either 20ft or 40ft and the easiest way to judge the size is to imagine that a 20ft shipping container as the size of a single garage and a 40ft the size of a double garage.   Whilst there are other sizes of shipping containers available generally these have to go as “special” cargo and therefore are often more expensive to ship.  

Once you have loaded your shipping container, it should be collected and moved to the port (if shipping) by rail or road where it can be loaded onto the ship otherwise it will continue its journey by road.  Once your goods have arrived in your new country, the container is then unloaded and must pass through customs.   Wavecrest has a wide network of overseas agents that can help you with all the necessary forms to clear your container through customs.  Don’t forget that depending on which country you have moved to it may be possible to claim back the vat you will have paid on your container.

From there on in you are on the home straight (as it were)!  It is simply a matter of getting your shipping container to your new house and unpacking.  

Bon Voyage!

Article written by: Rosie Cubbin of CS Shipping Containers why not read her Shipping Container Blog

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