Boat auctions happen all over the USA. As such, boat or yacht shipping which were purchased at the auctions in the USA takes three steps:
- boat transportation to the port (within the USA) which might take anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks
- boat shipping to one of the European, Russian,Chinese or Australian ports
- boat transportation from the port to a buyer
When somebody buys a boat at the auction or through a broker, it needs to be delivered to the port for loading. The cost of delivering the boat to the port depends on distance. Normally, boats are loaded into standard boat containers (20 ft×40ft) and secured by special cables. The boats which do not fit into standard containers are transported on RoRo ships. In that case, shipping cost and delivery time are higher and are discussed with a client after receiving an estimate from a US port.
Besides, one needs to consider if the boat trailer has to be loaded into the same container as a boat. Generally, the width of a trailer is 2.51 meters and it needs to be reassembled in order to be loaded into the container.
Also, it takes additional time in order to load a non-standard boat, for which a shipping company (container owner) might charge extra. However, when one uses RoRo ship to transport a boat, it is loaded onto a special platform together with a trailer (the same happens when the boat is unloaded). In such case, there is minimal risk of damage to the boat or a trailer.