by: SEA
date: DEC 2012
| EXPORT | IMPORT |
| Mumbai – INDIA | Colombo – SRI LANKA |
 No. 1 Walchand Hirachand Marg, Mumbai, India URL: www.secoshipping.com |
 Ecu-Line Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.# 320, R.A. De Mel Mawatha, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka URL: www.eculine.net |
| Mustafa MerchantTel. + 91 98 92 11 77 86 | Naduni ShalikaTel. +94 72 222 1243 |
| ✘ NOT Recommended | ✔ Recommended |
Total shipping: 630 $
+ 210 $ [crating] + 100 $ [transport Goa-Mumbai] + 20 $ [Warehouse Colombo]
Shipping with the Sadikally Esoofally & Co. (SECO shipping) has been a nightmare: the worst shipping ever!
Our interlocutor Mustafa appears very professional at the phone: fluent english and experienced about Carnet De Passages (at least he was the only one with both such characteristics). The agreement is to submit the bike in Goa the 22nd of December, load the bike on a truck to Mumbai where it will be packed and shipped, preferibly before the end of the year.
Bike delivery. The company designated by Mustafa to carry the bike to Mumbai (Agarwal Packers & Movers) is totally unqualified to fullfil the task. As we get there -by appointment- they have a panic-attack: for one hour we just stare each other and drink orange juice. Then we move, but the huge truck doesn’t even have a ramp and we had to load the bike by hand from the top of a small hill (Mustafa: “In India we don’t have fork lift, but we have many-many labours”… brilliant!). Inside the truck, obviously, there are no hooks to fasten the bike…
If my visa wasn’t expiring as it was, this would be the moment when I usually say “Ok, you did your best, thank you anyway, bye”, but actually I could only wish them to carry crystals, together with the bike.
Shipping. Before the end of the year they can’t manage. But you know: holidays.
The first days of the new year the bike misses its first vessel with a funny excuse (stopped by the custom for chassis number mismatch… come on, I’ve just crossed fifiteen or so countries with this same bike!) e to go on we have to… bribe some officers, of course.
The second vessel weighs anchor on the 9th, and even if I have already received the official “On board confirmation”, the bike is still in the harbor… very good!
Finally the bike sets out on the 16th and reaches Colombo on the 20th.
ONE MONTH from India to Sri Lanka? Congratulations. And if my “holiday” was of one month only?
To cap it all. When I open the crate I discover that:
- the bike is on the central stand, in spite of my instructions
- there are clear evidences of a bad fall on the left side: the heavy steel pannier is dented and doesn’t close, the sump guard is scratched and the left handlebar controls are all messed up
- the fuel tank is dry (a small amount is always allowed)
- a jacket has been stolen from the bag
- the bike keys are missing (I’ll find them 6 months later, stuck under the engine)
- SOMEBODY DROVE MY BIKE FOR 34 KM!!!
…but above all…
What can I say? I was just happy to have it back!
Due to the many delays we had been granted a Cashless Delivery Order, that is to say that WE DIDN’T PAY THE DESTINATION CHARGES (230 $)! Therefore about Ecu-Line, the designated agency in Colombo, we don’t have much to say: they just gave us the papers and we made the custom clearance by ourselves, quite straightforwardly.
