Shipping Containers

[HADave]

For those folks out there contemplating owning and shipping your own shipping container, buyer beware!!

This is not intended to say ownership is a bad thing or it is problematic buying and arranging shipment of your own container, however it has come to me that it is the first place one learns to jump through hoops in your journey to paradise.

I recently spoke of purchasing a new/used one trip container that was deemed ISO, International Shipping Organization, certified by the sellar and that its certification was good until 2012 which is confirmed by the CSC Safety Plate affixed to the rear door of all certifed seaworthy containers. I will also mention that in this case the unit was manufactured April 2007. Ought to be a piece of cake shipping this right?

Yes, BUT it seems that our selection of shipping companys, Matsons who, by the way, has been great so far gave us our first hoop to jump through and requires documentation of its seaworthiness. They suppose, that the sellar would naturally provide this doc and I concured. Well the sellar had a different take in that the only documentation would be a sales receipt as is where is and the placard affixed to the rear door was evidence enough for them.

Hmmmm Ok who out there makes this process move forward at this point. Well he/she is called a Marine Surveyor specializing in cargo equipment. Not just any surveyor will do.

Wouldn't you know it, neither the sellar or the shipper could give direct info where to or how to find this person. Well after several hours of point and click here are some things i came up with which I'm sure will save many others from pulling hair, fortunately I still have plenty to pull

The first learning experience was found at
http://www.containerhandbuch.de/chb_e/st...01_02.html

a very in dept manual on terminology regarding shipping containers and all the letters/numbers you find on them. Knowing this info before purchasing tells all you need to know about each specific container you see. Very cool stuff...

The next hopping place was http://www.marinesurvey.org a listing of all marine surveyors nation wide. Here i thought I would find the person i needed. Here is where I found that all surveyors are not common. There are surveyors for all things marine and a cargo surveyor is what you'll need. I might add here if you are not close to a shipping port cargo surveyors might just be in short supply. Anyway After several phone calls I was told to perhaps check out NAMS, National Association of Marine Surveyors, http://www.nams-cms.org/ here is where I found the only person within hundreds of miles of my location that was qualified to perform an inspection and as luck would have it I caught the fellow before he retired, that is to say he was no spring chicken. Whew! 18 hours in this search so far, thinking I was doomed from getting Matsons the documentation they would need.

This fellow, in our conversation spoke of the National Container Bureau who he was affiliated with and that he primarily consulted on insurance claims but did do this inspection once before about a year ago for another couple moving goods to Hawaii through Matsons.... I've employed his services and inspection is in the process as I type. This is unfortunately not cheap though, according to

http://www.natcargo.org/

the average std inspection cost is 180.00 plus mileage I was quoted approx 240.00 but the job is done and the required documentation will be acceptable by Matsons for a period of one year.

Some would say building a 160 square ft storage shed would be less money and they might be right but I find comfort in knowing that a container is forever as mobile and indestructable a storage unit as one could ask for. never know when you might have to packup and hit the high-road. Eh?

So in closing I say beware should anyone think it is as simple as passing a card or signing a check But the links i've provided will definately help anyone with the process, Enjoy

Aloha HADave

[mella l]

Ayut,
HADave when is the big move? Why am I always the last to know!!LOL Good for you all, a plan, some action, ready, set, GO! WOW! I am totally jealous, tell the Mrs.s!

Thank you for the documentary of the 18 + hour track down. Very articulate, I'd be pulling my hair out and forget half of the story by 18 hours later!! Wow do you believe the bureaucracy of it all. Your documentation will come in real handy and hopefully we will all remember where it is, to bring it forward for those facing this dilemma, as I have never heard of this being addressed before! Thanks so much.

Hope the "professional" checker gives your container the go ahead!

Aloha,

Mella

I was wondering if the container must be empty to have the inspection for sea worthiness? I imagine it needs to be empty. But on the chance that it could be full, perhaps the inspection could happen at the port when it is being shipped from?



mella l

[HADave]

Aloooohaaaa there Ms Mella

first things first I must help You with your Maine cololquilism Ayut ROFLOL You Sweetie Pie you must first understand that us folks from Maine ,and I've always presumed it was because we got short changed on our state name, being only one syllable it did something to us. Humans seem to need syllables as a way of segmenting the stream of speech and giving it a rhythm of strong and weak beats, as we hear in music. Ever heard some old Mainer sing hahahaha it a hoot! Most speakers of English have no trouble dividing a word up into its component syllables. We Mainers at least those with real roots here just can't fathom the use of the letter R it always comes out sounding something like when the Dr puts that tongue depressah in your mouth and tells you to say aaahhh Ergo AYAH my best spelled enunciacion is A'IR like the stuff you breath. HAHAHA OK ? got it? LOL )

Anywhere, our plans what do you mean, we've been coming, lol when we finally get there we will have brought new meaning to word laid-back Seriously though It has been tough committing to letting go of everything we have built here there is something about it when it is all your own sweat and tears. Leaving Kids is no problem in comparison, raised right you never can get rid of them. LOL..

We hope, and I just spoke with the realtor the other day to list this month. Our area is keeping agents on rollerskates and sales in our growing town "ahh" GREAT.

I also need to do some prelim work on the container, layout stuff mostly, and some rough framing for a walk-thru door and a couple of windows shelves and smaller plywood crates for breakables. A small portion of the unit will be used for temp housekeeping once we get there, as we will live right there on the property. So I hope to have it up off the ground so i can temp plumb for a bath and storm shelter. The other reason for the container now and mostly the main reason is most everthing we own has been packed and it has been stored throughout the home. Unfortunately we have no full basement or storage area that doesn't path it way through the the home. So for the sake of creating physical damage anywhere it is best to get it out and we might as well be loading and be ready to go. This is tough being at the stepping off point, leaving one's comfort zone, like I tell everyone "heah" it's not like moving across town. But Ayuh we be commin...)


To answer your question about the container being empty for inspection Ayuh, it does, you see they must be wind and water tight. Part of the inspection is a light test from inside, doors closed and locked no holes and perfect door seals. That info, given to me early on , by Matsons, was my main reason for seeking out the best/ newest container we could find. Didn't want to chance failing an inspection facing repairs and reinspection only to drive the final investment to a point of no return should we ever decide to sell it. So we've ended up with a nice 2007 model real spiffy as far a containers go it will definately wreak pride of ownership so hopefully the neighbors won't object to its presence here or there. So many considerations eh ??

Well there you have it simple folks stumbling along with their simple plan>

Happy Days and Warm Alohas

HADave



Edited by - HADave on 09/07/2007 03:23:14

[HADave]

Any folks out there shipping from or planning to ship from northern mainland locations during the winter months beware !!

Our container is loaded and waiting for us to leave, during this holding pattern mother nature keeps on keeping on and has dropped temps below zero and has dumped lots of snow everywhere.

Whats all this got to do with shipping containers you might ask....Well the temps inside the unit have also dropped and the snow has piled upon the the top. One would consider clearing the top of all the snow but probably never really climbs to the top to be sure that all the snow was removed. But things look good from below and time marches on. Then out of the blue you experience the ole january thaw. Great you say temps climb fifty, sixty degrees overnight things start melting all is good and your things aren't frozen quite so solid. Then you think gee I think I'll look inside the container for something or perhaps maybe to add something else, AND there it is your worse dream come true the container ceiling at least all that you can see of it is completely covered in droplets of water......OH NO HOW CAN THIS BE!!!!

Dew point temperature differential effect, for lack of a better term. The sudden change in air temp and the roof with a layer of frozen snow/ice, in the valleys of the corrugation, is at war with the warming dry sides and bingo it starts raining inside.......

In panic mode upon opening the doors i.m thinking mop and it works great for as far as it will reach but that isn't very far because your container, if packed right. is pretty much floor to ceiling.

Sometime early on during the packing process I decided to finish off the top of the load in places, with styrofoam to prevent what I thought was going to be the real problem down the road, HEAT. Of course the sheets do have seperations and I guess I won;t know till it is time to unload how much of and what got wet There are boxes and uphostered furniture and some hardwood case pieces that are of concern.

After the feeble mopping attempt and that was escalated to a 16 foot piece of 1x4 with a towel wrapped around the end to reach all that could be reached. I set up a large 16 inch floor fan and it has been running since with the unit closed up tight and the roof completely cleared of snow and ice. Lastly a dehumidifier is on its way and am hoping this will suck, from every crevis, every drop of water in there.....

Beware, hindsight creeps in and there comes lots of shouldah wouldah couldah I'm not going to try and guess a better approach only that I prepared for everything but this and I guess because they are considered wind and water tight why would yah.....well anyway this happened and short of completely unloading there is noway to know if any damage has or will have occured down the road.

Aloha HADave

[gtill]

HA, your post is incredible, I'm near to buying a container on oahu, YB is the barge company we use from Honolulu, and I belive you will to, if they ship directly to Hilo it's a new route. Your bill should reflect the transfer from hono to hilo. For me it will be 400$ , and with mfy newfound knowledge mabe Negotiate the tag. A vehicle shipped here is 200+ with up to a weeks wait and anything not welded down isn't insured.

Nuf of that, if you're moving into HA, have you asked any resident there about the van as a house, even if temporary, unless you're invisible (in trees). It could be done while building, but even then a camping permit is necessary. If you start with a septic, it'll relieve the primary reason, plus water. You'll need a building permit for the septic permit before you put it to the engineer. License required for all plumbing and elec. Other subd. are more suitable , but how do I know? (Because of previous evictions even of owners!)


If you are you fully aware of whats going to be, say so and I'll delete this. A suprise can be a bummer, forknowlege avoids bummers. Irreguardless, congratulations for owning the premiere low ball lot in Puna. Valued at or more than the 3acre ag zoned subdivisions) worth 3 of my 1/4 acre lots. Easy upgrade to the wild side. Option always makes for hope.

Now I'm more educated on containers. Thanks! Aloha

[Nate SC]

HAdave I spent a few summers in York Beach many, many moons ago. We stayed at the huge white hotel over looking the beach right across from the basketball courts. I still laugh to this day about the name "kenibunkport" because I heard a joke once about the Bush family living there. They said "kenibunkport" sounds like "georgie boys" first homosexual expierience. I don't know why but that cracks me up. I still have a childhood friend that lives near Agusta too. man it's a small world.

[Likalizard]

Hadave! Great insight on containers. We also from northern mainland in New England and planning our move this fall. Re-thinking our plan on buying. aloha!

Lika
Boston/Pahoa

[Scott_S]

Dave, sorry to hear about your dilemma, I hope nothing ends up damaged. Tell Peg, Julie and I say hi and our thoughts are with you guys. I don't know who will get to the acres first but we definitly deserve a drink when we get there.

Take care,

Scott

[HADave]

Aloha gtill, thanks for the reply and I'm glad you found my info interesting. Through the course of years, now, lurking, posting and gathering info here on Punaweb for our plan to relocate I've aquired a wealth of information so much so I'll bet I could write a pretty good book, but lack the organizational skills required I'm sure !! []

You should not however delete your post as I believe such a wealth of info only comes from people being exposed to a broad band of input and every two cents is worth something to someone somewhere. I envy you having to only come from Oahu especially since Matson's just announce another 2 more surcharge increases. If we don't get there soon we may well have to live in a container. However our curent plan is'nt quite that elaborate but it will be on-site roughing it in the true spirit of pioneering....HEHEEE till we get the homestead built on our premiere low ball lot.. Be Neighborly []




Mistah Nate, The Kennebunks and especially Kennibunkport is quite a place and your right the way some things are said can be pretty funny. So much of The Big Island reminds me of Maine but that is just my interpretation. Your childhood friend near Augusta is in what town? We are east and the next town actually about 20 miles from the Capital. China Lake ring a bell?

True Mainers ain't bothahed by black flies and maskeetahs cause we sweat 100% deet


Hi Lika, thanks for stoppin by, been to your fair city many times during the Big Dig Years was always impressed by the enormity of the new bridge across the Charles. It was at Opthalmic Consultants of Boston where my many eye surgeries took place on Staniford Street. 42 trips over two years remember it all very well.. Hope to see yah oneday...

Hey Neighbor Scott sometimes I think if it weren't for bad luck we wouldn't any at all.....But all is well now problem cured,,, I Hope lol well see I guess and wouldn't you know it my dehumidifier idea may not work as all i can find is one that works only down to 40 degrees and by tommorrrow we will be back in the thirties and falling. Still no good news on your selling process either huh. The realtor here said if we didn't sell before Christmas we probably would have to wait till April but we are keeping chins high and the place looking good just in case......you never know []

Hi to Julie Take care my Friend



One again thanks everyone for stopping by.... Three cheers for Puna!!



Aloha HADave

S.China / Kurtistown

Forget about World Peace... Visualize using your turn signal.

[gtill]

YB requires nothing but a visual clean and tight, no seaworthy permit required!
However Structural certification necessary if it has cut doors or windows!