Earlier in '22, I got my car shipped by Wallenius Wilhelmsen (Walwil) from Belgium to Mexico. Apart from some delay caused by the Ukraine-crisis, and some fighting to avoid the redundant (made look mandatory) customs agents to 'help' me get my car (= luggage) through formalities in the mexican port, it appeared alright, also price-wise.
Now that my trip nears the end, I wanted to ship it back, but when trying to place the order, I suddenly find myself in the middle of some evil play. If it has been initiated by Walwil (today nominally european but in fact americanised beyond recognition, like most other businesses), or by their local panamanian governor, I can't say - they won't let me know. But what I find is this scenario:
- If I email the shipping department, there is no reply.
- If I surprise them by showing up at their premises, they treat me normally. They give me advice (like, that I need to present the car for inspection to DIJ/dirección de investigación judicial, prior to handing it over at the port), let me pick a vessel from their timetable, ask me to send them the car's dimensions, announce they will send me a confirmation with the price. But it never comes.
- Sending them a reminder, I suddenly (and in total reversal of what would be normal and had been said so far) find myself rejected, alleging as follows:
'All ships to/from Europe and Oceania are out of space so our operations team imposed a booking hold for the next few months so unfortunately we are unable to accept any one-time or non-contracted cargo. Accordingly, we have to reject your quote request for this period of time. We are sorry that we cannot offer a solution this time, but hope for your understanding and continued good cooperation in the future. We are looking for other options but so far we have not found a shipping company that takes cars to Zeebrugge.'
So according to this logic, for the next months there is no way out of Panama by sea for a sedan on any of their or other ocean vessels. That looks very much like mischief: someone abusing their power to follow some secret agenda at my expense. Not a moment of consideration for the fact that the car needs to be reexported in a few weeks, otherwise it becomes illegal.
I posted this to warn you, but also to ask if someone knows a way out - other than air freight?
Now that my trip nears the end, I wanted to ship it back, but when trying to place the order, I suddenly find myself in the middle of some evil play. If it has been initiated by Walwil (today nominally european but in fact americanised beyond recognition, like most other businesses), or by their local panamanian governor, I can't say - they won't let me know. But what I find is this scenario:
- If I email the shipping department, there is no reply.
- If I surprise them by showing up at their premises, they treat me normally. They give me advice (like, that I need to present the car for inspection to DIJ/dirección de investigación judicial, prior to handing it over at the port), let me pick a vessel from their timetable, ask me to send them the car's dimensions, announce they will send me a confirmation with the price. But it never comes.
- Sending them a reminder, I suddenly (and in total reversal of what would be normal and had been said so far) find myself rejected, alleging as follows:
'All ships to/from Europe and Oceania are out of space so our operations team imposed a booking hold for the next few months so unfortunately we are unable to accept any one-time or non-contracted cargo. Accordingly, we have to reject your quote request for this period of time. We are sorry that we cannot offer a solution this time, but hope for your understanding and continued good cooperation in the future. We are looking for other options but so far we have not found a shipping company that takes cars to Zeebrugge.'
So according to this logic, for the next months there is no way out of Panama by sea for a sedan on any of their or other ocean vessels. That looks very much like mischief: someone abusing their power to follow some secret agenda at my expense. Not a moment of consideration for the fact that the car needs to be reexported in a few weeks, otherwise it becomes illegal.
I posted this to warn you, but also to ask if someone knows a way out - other than air freight?
