How Our Cars Travel Across the Atlantic

[jspira]

In case you are curious about how your car got from Europe to the U.S., I´ve documented the process with lots of photos, including a complete virtual tour of the AutoTerminal in Bremerhaven where your car boarded its ship. Shipping the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec to the U.S. ...BLG is Mercedes-Benz’ shipping agent and takes care of all aspects of shipping the car to the United States, including booking passage and customs brokerage. In the U.S., customs brokerage is handled by E.H. Harms USA, a subsidiary of BLG. BLG, which was founded in 1877 as the Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft (Bremen Warehouse Company), is an international logistics organization that, among other things, is responsible for exporting automobiles from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz among others from Europe to the U.S. BLG’s AutoTerminal Bremerhaven is the largest auto- and RoRo (roll-on roll-off) terminal in Europe. In 2010 it handled 1.6 million automobiles, counting both import and export. The AutoTerminal is divided into two areas, Section Nordhafen and Section Kaiserhafen. Almost all of BLG’s passenger car operations, ranging from storage to its technical center, are in the Section Nordhafen.<SNIP> Article continues here

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[bigigg]

Soo how accurate do you think is the ETA that the dealer gave me? When i purchased the car on tuesday the 1st I was told the car is already on the water, and it should be in by the 17th.

[hyperion667]

cool article.

I didn't get to track either one of my cars, despite being told I would be by the dealer....
I did get to see a picture of the Clover Ace that my AMG came on, but that was it.....
but whatever........it here now

[Mtl20v]

My car arrived in Halifax with a scratched wheel. Instead of fixing it at the dealer, the wanted to repair it on the spot... It has been there for a month now.

[jspira]

Originally Posted by bigigg

Soo how accurate do you think is the ETA that the dealer gave me? When i purchased the car on tuesday the 1st I was told the car is already on the water, and it should be in by the 17th.

Hard to say without the ship info. A typical crossing to Baltimore can be anywhere from 11 to 18 days. It depends on how many stops the vessel will make.

If the car was already on route for a few days on the first, then I'd say it's probably reasonably accurate. But this is a guess - and it's easily resolved by finding out the ship's name and tracking it.

Once it gets to port, if it's new and not European Delivery, it should make it through the VPC in a few days and then it takes a day or two to get up to NJ.

[afaedC63]

I've been tracking my E550 since I got the VIN. It seems MB uses a handful I of shipping companies. Once I got the VIN i was able to uses that as the Cargo ID.

Check out this link:

https://att.2wglobal.com/gstattweb/o...uickSearchPage

The first page gives you basic info like the vessel name (TIRRANNA in my case) and voyage ID. If you click on the voyage ID it gives you the schedule. The route for my car is below and the car is due in Baltimore on the 13th and was shipped on the 30th. And this does update because originally it was do in on the 12th.

----------
Port Country Arrival Departure
BREMERHAVEN GERMANY 30/10/2011 30/10/2011
ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM 31/10/2011 01/11/2011
SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM 02/11/2011 03/11/2011
NEW YORK, NY U.S.A. 12/11/2011 12/11/2011
BALTIMORE, MD U.S.A. 13/11/2011 15/11/2011

I used to track the actual boats location but now its to far from land... now all I can do is wait. If you have your VIN you should check it out.

Edward

[bigigg]

I have my VIN but its not working.

[BudC]

Originally Posted by bigigg

I have my VIN but its not working.

Call your salesman. He can find out the name of the ship from Montvale. He can also give you a rough estimate of when it will arrive in port.

I've gotten the name of my ship from the salesman for my last two cars and I have a friend who just did the same thing.

If your salesman tells you he can't do it, he's wrong. Insist on it.

[bigigg]

I was told roughly the 16th, idk if he is sayin it will arrive at the port or the dealership. Regardless i just need to be patient. My new wheels i ordered should be here in a week, soo they should keep me busy when i repaint them.

[afaedC63]

Originally Posted by bigigg

I have my VIN but its not working.

Guess they used a different shipper. Sorry it didn't work for you.. but its killing me that I know its in the middle of the ocean somewhere and all I can do is wait for it to get closer to the east coast.

Edward

[pgordon888]

Originally Posted by afaedC63

Guess they used a different shipper. Sorry it didn't work for you.. but its killing me that I know its in the middle of the ocean somewhere and all I can do is wait for it to get closer to the east coast.

Edward

Your car is likely on my ship. My CLS 63 is on Florida Highway right now, which is not owned by WWL and is owned by a Japanese shipping company called Kawasaki Kisen. Marine tracker shoes a scheduled ETA in Baltimore of 11/15/11.

[bigigg]

The dealer told me the 16th, soo im hoping i can pick it up no later then the 19th. I'm curious how often a ship gets sent over to the states with MB's on it.

[hyperion667]

this is what my AMG came over on

[DannyAves]

I did European delivery last year and my car came on the Firmament Ace. It's easy to track your car and the ship's voyage but sometimes it gets lost in the system when in lands in the USA. Mine spent over 2 weeks lost on the dock somewhere in Georgia. The dealer would tell me one thing and the shipping agent would tell me another.

[bigigg]

Well i pulled the trigger last night on a E 350 different than the original one i purchased. I was getting impatient and also the salesman bumped my arrival date by two weeks. He was telling me they are very limited to color/options because they just started rolling in a month ago at the dealership. I had my mind set on white exterior, interior i wasnt as picky. Soo the salesman said he had a diamond white, with special order chestnut leather(same color as saddle). P1 package, wood steering wheel, rear spoiler, rear sunshade, 4matic, Navi, etc.. I havent drove it much yet since i just got it last night, but i love it soo far! I had a C class prior to this soo i kind of expected a great car.

[amaycg]

PICS!!!!

[bigigg]

Also pano roof, looks awesome on a white car. I'll eventually take pics lol

[Busta Riles]

None of the links in this thread are working for me...anyone else have that problem?

[CEB]

Originally Posted by Busta Riles

None of the links in this thread are working for me...anyone else have that problem?

Works fine for me.