BigBoeing

Chris,

Thank you. I wonder which auto manufacturer has a RO-RO VPC/transshipment facility located in Davisville, Rhode Island? Have you seen the MB RO-RO's do intermediate stops stateside en route Baltimore?

Merry Christmas,
Jim

balticgreen

The ships carrying my cars made other stops in Europe but once they cross the Atlantic, they have always come straight to Baltimore. After leaving Baltimore, though, they have gone to other stateside ports farther south like Charleston, SC and Galveston, TX.

I'm not sure exactly why your ship is heading to RI but it isn't necessarily to drop off passenger cars. It might be, but RORO can include other types of drivable vehicles and of course it could be rolling ON (picking up cargo) in RI rather than rolling OFF.

bytemaster0

Jim, I'm going to guess that your GLK250 will do just fine... mine probably would have been A-okay if I hadn't messed with it in the first place. I'm happy to say that roughly 1000 miles after the second fix, all still seems well.

BigBoeing

Folks,

Does anybody know if the VPC located at the Port of Baltimore is a 24/7 operation, or is it on a Monday-Friday 8AM to 5PM work schedule?

Merry Christmas,
Jim

Alex Bel

You could try to check:

Mercedes-Benz Baltimore Vehicle Processing Center (VPC)
2908 Childs Street
Baltimore, MD 21226
Contact: Ted Boudalis, Dept. Mgr. VPC
E-mail: boudalist@mbusa.com
Telephone: 410-355-1834
Cell: 201-310-1371
Fax: 410-355-8835

107123210

Jim,
I heard that they close down for 3 weeks over the holidays.

OK - Sorry. Just joking. I am sure you are getting very anxious.

My car arrived on time on Nov 30th. But since then, with salt on roads, it has been in garage most of time. Even too cold out there to go and learn the controls.

I have driven it a bit. Just over 200km on odometer now! Last trip was to dealer for "block" heater hookup and CDI Module software update.

Hope your is delivered soon and that you have a great Christmas.

Peef

Audi/VW has their VPC in Davisville.

BTW, my GLK is on the same ship - getting real anxious.

BigBoeing

Folks,

I contacted the Baltimore VPC using the information Alex provided above and quite promptly received the response below.

Merry Christmas,
Jim

-------------------------

Mr. XXXXXX,

December is our busy time of year, the VPC remains open 24/7 for carriers to come in and pick released vehicles for delivery to the dealers. The VPC itself is working weekends and multiple shifts (late night) now through year end (with the exception of Christmas Day) in order to make sure we have an opportunity to make as many customer vehicles ready to ship as possible.

Thank you and happy holidays

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Kind regards

Ted

-----Original Message-----

Mr. Boudalist,

I ordered a MB GLK250 BlueTEC which is scheduled to arrive aboard the vessel Grand Legacy on or about December 20th. Given the upcoming holiday schedule can you please tell me if the Baltimore VPC is a 24/7 operation, or does it operate on a normal Monday-Friday 8 AM to 5 PM schedule?

Thank You,
XXXXXXX

BigBoeing

The RO-RO vessel Grand Legacy containing our GLK250 had originally estimated arriving in port at Davisville, RI today at 1600Z, or 1100 EST. She's apparently not within radio transponder range of shore yet as there's been no update of her position since she passed close abeam the Azores on 15 DEC. More correctly, there's been no FREE updates of her position since then, and I'm too cheap to pay for the quite frequent satellite updates she's no doubt continually been making during her trans-Atlantic voyage. I have no idea how long she'll be in port at Davisville offloading VW's before proceeding south to the Port of Baltimore.

I've been using the vessel tracking site http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ which Alex recommended. They've got an iPad app to do the same thing:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mari...ic/id563910324

Merry Christmas,
Jim

Peef

Another website is reporting an ETA of 0200Z tomorrow.

BigBoeing

Peef,

Which web site? Can you provide a link?

Thanks,
Jim

Peef

http://www.fleetmon.com/en/vessels/Grand_Legacy_65883

Sorry - working from an iPhone here, so not sure if the link will work. Worst case, copy n' paste.

ps

jbredex

I have a GLK250 on order with a build date of November 25, 2013 according to my dealer. My car is still at the factory with no information on when it will be shipped, again according to my dealer.

I wonder if their are others in this same situation? By the way, I put my order in on September 25, 2013.

I am glad yours is almost in the USA but am wondering what has happened to my GLK 250. The last six numbers of my VIN are 262030, again provided by my dealer. How does this compare to your VIN?

I am beginning to wonder if any of the info provided by my dealer is accurate.

Thanks in advance for any info. I want to call my dealer tomorrow and get some better information.

Thanks again

BigBoeing

jbredex,

Boy, sorry to hear that. Your MB dealer can directly access ALL the build/shipping data on your new GLK250. I watched our salesman do precisely that in a matter of moments on his desktop computer monitor at our MB dealer. Accordingly, I was able to get the VIN creation date, the VIN, the build date, the shipping date out of Bremerhaven, the RO-RO vessel name and estimated arrival date at the Baltimore MB VPC.

For comparison sake, our GLK250 was ordered on 21 OCT, built on 29 NOV and shipped on 04 DEC. The original estimated arrival date at the VPC Baltimore was 18 DEC, however that's obviously slid as the Grand Legacy is just this morning back in-range on the vessel web tracking site http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ and entering port at her first stateside stop in Davisville, RI. The last six digits of our VIN are 265738. I obtained the aforementioned data on 09 DEC from our local MB dealer. You should be able to obtain the same data on your vehicle.

Which VPC was your GLK250 going to be shipped to? Regardless of the VPC, the data should still be available on your specific vehicle if it was built on 25 NOV. I recommend you call your salesperson and have him/her get busy on the MB computer! Please let us know what you're told after doing so. Good luck!

Merry Christmas,
Jim

Peef

jbredex,

If you'd like to track your vehicle direct from the shipper go here:

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

then enter your full VIN in the Cargo ID field

If booked, it'll tell you what vessel it's on, ETA, etc. if nothing shows up, it may be M-B have used another line for shipment, however unlikely.

BigBoeing

jbredex,

Again, for sake of comparison our GLK250 is shown aboard the Grand Legacy with an estimated arrival at the VPC Baltimore on 23 DEC using the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics tracking link Peef provided in his post immediately above.

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

Merry Christmas,
Jim

jbredex

Thanks for the info BigBoeing and Peef.

I found the WW shipping website a few weeks ago and it still shows no records found when I accessed it this morning.

It is very strange to me that my GLK 250 would sit at the factory for a month after build date for no reason. My salesman is not very helpful. I will call him in about an hour and turn up the thermostat a little.

The last contact with them was Wednesday December 18. At that time they said the CLA cars were being held at the port for a software glitch and were being shipped ahead of my GLK 250 and other cars that were produced later. BigBoeing just proved that wrong as his was at the port and assigned a ship 5 days after build. Mine was built on 11-25-13 four days before BigBoeing's and is still at the factory as of last Wednesday. Christmas Day will be three months after my order and one month after build date.

I am beginning to smell an unpleasant odor.

Thanks much, Jim (I am another Jim)

PS: I'll post an update after my talk with my dealer.
PPS: my dealer is in Texas so my GLK 250 will come through Brunswick, Ga

Phil.mount

Don't know if this makes you feel better or worse, but my ML was built Dec 11 and released to shipping and no one can track it or tell me when it will arrive. It is on Dealer website as in inventory but not here so domestic is no better at tracking than over the water. The wait continues! Sure would like to bring it home Christmas Eve!

jbredex

UPDATE!!

I did not check my email this morning before I started posting and as luck would have it my salesman emailed that my GLK 250 has been shipped on the Emerald Ace and should arrive Brunswick, Ga about Jan 2.

He said they have many cars that were delayed shipping for reasons unknown.

Thanks to all who were helpful in this discussion.

I am still very interested in the Ad Blue situation and will do some research on that problem.

The MOE tires are of interest to me also.

I'll be tracking the Emerald Ace diligently. My first new MB. I had a 1973 220D about forty years ago. Hope this one has a little more power,

Regards, Jim

jbredex

I feel your pain. Until today I had no information from the build date 11/25. Then all of a sudden today it is shipped and the ship is at a port in Great Britain. Still won't track on WW website. Maybe another shipper has this consignment. Oh well.

Curious the way information is handled by MB.

Hope you get an early Christmas present surprise!

Regards, Jim

BigBoeing

Jim,

That's great news. Glad to hear you got it resolved. At least you know where your GLK is now.

Under the category of pure trivia, anybody tracking a MB RO-RO vessel up the Chesapeake Bay and in to the Port of Baltimore on http://www.marinetraffic.com can watch the ship live on a Maryland DMV webcam as she passes under the I-695 bridge at this web site: http://www.chart.state.md.us/video/v...4606363d235daa

Looks like our GLK250 is spending tonight in port at Davisville, RI aboard the Grand Legacy. Not sure when she gets underway again and steams south to the Port of Baltimore.

MB has come a long way in diesel technology since the 240D. My father owned one for years. Boy did that thing shake 'n rattle! No thanks.

Merry Christmas,
Jim

jbredex

Jim,

I'll try to watch "your ship come in". Thanks for the link.

The Emerald Ace will be in Baltimore in about a week so. I'll try to watch mine come in also.

Merry Christmas to all!

Regards, Jim

BigBoeing

Peef,

I've continued tracking the Grand Legacy on her voyage south after her port call on 21 DEC at the VW/Audi VPC in Davisville, RI using the http://www.marinetraffic.com web site. MarineTraffic can be set-up to send an e-mail whenever a vessel you're tracking arrives and departs a port. I've been very impressed with her two quite rapid turnarounds at Davisville and Baltimore. These folks don't mess around.

Given the tonnage/draft of the Grand Legacy I expected she'd steam south to Norfolk and enter the Chesapeake Bay there. Wrong. She took an abrupt turn to starboard yesterday evening while steaming in the Atlantic, entered the Delaware Bay, steamed north towards Delaware City, entered the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and arrived at the Port of Baltimore at about 4 AM EST this morning. The longshoremen apparently unloaded our GLK's in Baltimore during the wee hours of the morning and the Grand Legacy was underway again by 7 AM EST this morning.

For those who haven't read it, here's an interesting Baltimore Sun article on the MB VPC, with thanks to Balticgreen: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...administration

Merry Christmas,
Jim

Peef

Actually, no. It entered the harbor about 5 AM this morning (I checked on it whilst getting ready for work) and did an abrupt 180 back into Chesapeake Bay where it is currently parked, as far as I can tell. I'm guessing no room at the inn, so to speak.

BigBoeing

Peef,

May well be as that sure seemed like a VERY short turnaround in Baltimore if it occurred. I don't know what triggers the MarineTracking port arrival and departure e-mails, however I received both. It may be simple geographic proximity.

Too bad we don't know somebody that could put a set of eyeballs on the Port of Baltimore RO-RO facility to give us the big picture.

MarineTracking now shows the Grand Legacy anchored in the channel off Highland Beach, southeast of Annapolis with two already-spoken-for shiny new 2014 GLK250's wasting away aboard. That sir is a travesty.

Let the nautical HIGH DRAMA continue!

LOL,
Jim