Shipping Helis from States to UK

[jet2us]

Can anyone help with a quick request?

Does anyone have any contacts or does anyone know the best way to get a large non flying helicopter from the United States to UK?

Regards

[carholme]

Sir;

Depending on the size of the helicopter and if it is capable of being road transported, your best bet to be to get it to an East coast port and have it RoRo'd to the UK. RoRo is Roll On/Roll Off where you tow the helicopter into the hold just as you would a vehicle, with the blades installed in boxes underneth the a/c. It is probably the most reaonable as well. Any of the major freight forwarders or shipping lines will advise you on RoRo.

Regards
carholme

[paco]

And make sure you use plenty of bubblewrap, with an empty container on either side!

Phil

[whatsarunway]

wouldnt an empty container slide about on the high seas?

ACL deal with helicopters a lot, they are in liverpool docks dealt with 2 s76s last week alone

[Hover Bovver]

Not many containers go in RoRo, tends to be more odshaped, outsize ,keep dry (sometimes??)cargos. Perfect for wheeled aircraft, you can put it on a maffe trailer if it is skidded.

If you can get it into a container and onto a container ship then that is usually cheapest for of seafreight- RoRo freight is more expensive .

If you are offered deck cargo,or freight on a container ship, with the aircraft outside of a container (If you are told it can go on a flat rack on a container ship, that is effectively the same thing), avoid it at all costs - it may seem cheap but when it arrives full of salt water it will work out very expensive!

[Daifly]

We were one of the S76's from last week - can thoroughly recommend ACL - really helpful Liverpudlian bunch. http://www.aclcargo.com/

Definately take the RoRo option (mind you, you say "non-flyable" so perhaps you don't need it to arrive in tip-top condition...?) as they have separate sections for the helicopters so they don't get battered by anything else.

You'll need to sort out the VAT man as well probably - Martyn Fiddler Associates for that one!

[Efirmovich]

Try SEACON in Liverpool, they ship Helis, F1 cars and Show freight, etc. so should know how to take care !

[phone]

E.

[unstable load]

Panalpina has a dedicated department that does helicopters. They have shipped a few large helicopters around for the lot I work for and the one I was involved with was pretty painless from my point of view.
Having said that, the local customs lot play a large part in the pain or lack thereof.

[ppheli]

On the basis of other org's being recommended in this thread, here's another one.

Another VAT paperwork organisation is Forest Aviation Services. Clive Chapman there used to work for the VAT people and specialises in aircraft and helicopter imports/exports. PM me for more details