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Ask Slashdot: Transporting Computers By Cargo Ship?
JabrTheHut writes "I'll be packing up and moving to another continent soon. Everything I own will be packed up into boxes and loaded onto a cargo container, which in turn will be loaded onto a ship and will sail from Northern Europe, through the equator and then to its final destination. It will be in transit for up to 8 weeks. What do I need to do to ensure my stuff survives the trip? I've got anti-static bags and silica gel for graphics cards and hard disks, which won't be in the computers, mostly, when they move, and some of what I own will be crated in order to protect both against physical damage and humidity. I'll throw in a couple of packets of silica gel into each box or crate. Clothes get moth balls. But what have I missed? Will the printer ink survive? Do I have to worry about batteries? What haven't I thought of?"
Should be removed for shipping.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Put it in sealed plastic bags, and forget about it.
Why bother to remove the hard drives and graphics cards? Just bag the computer and ship it intact with sufficient padding for normal handling.
Containers aren't totally humidity proof, but they aren't going to have ocean waves flowing thru your stuff either. They are close enough to being
sealed that simply bagging against humidity is sufficient. Silica gel is unnecessary. Bag it. Tape it. Pad it. Box it. done.
Pack it like you would for motor freight from one end of your country to the other.
Ocean passage is five nines uneventful. Occasionally large waves take entire tiers of containers
off ships, but this is exceedingly rare, and that is what insurance is for.
Your stuff is more at risk sitting in the freight yard pre and post passage, than it is on the ship. Not from any real damage, but rather from pilferage.
Moth balls? At sea?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Remove the CPU's heatsink from the motherboard, if you haven't. Those things are heavy, and the plastic screws typically holding them on are weak. The last thing you want is a big hunk of metal bouncing around inside the box.
Source: experience :(
Prepare to lose everything you pack in the container. Cargo ships will pack as many cargo containers into them as they can and whatever won't fit into the hold will be strapped to the deck. It is not unknown for cargo containers to be washed overboard during a storm. A shipment of rubber ducks that were washed overboard ended up helping scientists track ocean currents. See the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_Floatees
Be prepared to get boarded you scurvy dog!
Come on, bad things can always happen. Container losses are not particularly common and he's not shipping the Mona Lisa.
Good thing pirates don't make you walk the plank these days. You'd be in a total twizzy.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
As someone who has moved overseas and back four times; you are worried about the trivial details. Take a good hard look at the shipping contract concerning damage coverage. The contract may also prohibit certain hazardous materials like lead acid batteries and cleaning products.
Have your property packed out by a company experienced in shipping belongings overseas. No amount of silica packages will protect your stuff if the container is lost at sea or gets sea water inside.
Document the condition of your belongings before they are packed up. Also make backups of important data and papers and keep them separate from your shipment. So that in the event that the worst happens, it's just a matter of getting reimbursed for damages and buying replacements. While that can be time consuming and annoying, it is better than losing irreplaceable photos or legal records.
Good luck and enjoy your new country.
This is an important question that everyone should ask, regardless of how far they are moving. You mention graphics cards and hard drives that are not installed in computers - are they really worth transporting? I know this can be a hard question to answer but it is important. I would recommend looking at the cost per kilogram you are paying for transport, and then think seriously of which items that you are shipping are worth at least that much per kilogram on their own. Anything that doesn't meet that threshold should probably not be moved.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
IIt is a regular occurrence for containers to be washed overboard or to simply be "lost" (before or after customs).
Yes. 10000 containers per year lost at sea. Probably not yours, but it could be.
2000 seizures out of 264 million travelers.
Somehow I am not too concerned they are going to seize anything.
I work for IBM, with lots of people that travel out of the country. I have not even heard of anyone getting more than a request to start the laptop to make sure it is real.
It is not even on the list of things IBM Travel created to worry about on a trip, although certain over-the-counter drugs will get you in deep shit if you are not careful...
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
First off, I'm one of the few people commenting on this thread who's actually moved overseas and sent a computer in their personal belongings crate.
This whole question and most of the answers is a whole lot of hullaballoo over nothing. First, as to carrying the computer onboard carryon or checked baggage: the person will have so much airplane baggage when moving that they're not going to have room to be hauling all their electronics in it, and it'd *definitely* be safer in the shipping crate than in checked baggage.
You know the most dangerous time for shipped goods? Going to and from the port. *Not* while on the ship, not even when being loaded. It's no more dangerous to move by ship than by moving company. Just make sure everything is strapped down *WELL*. It helps if your shipping container is as small as you can possibly get all of your stuff into. Are you using palettes and a partial load or getting a whole crate? Remember that if you get a whole crate you may not be able to have it lowered all the way to the ground, so if you're loading it yourself, you should rent a forklift to help get your stuff in, whether you use palettes or not.
Neither heat nor cold nor static will be a problem. Oceans are temperature moderators and you don't get much more grounded than being surrounded by a giant steel box. Of course your ink will survive; why wouldn't it? And I should reiterate, buy as much of whatever you consume regularly *before* the move because your life will be hectic after it and it takes time to learn where you can buy everything (if it's even available in your new location), esp. if there's a language barrier.
You're thinking of the wrong stuff. When it comes to packing, the primary thing you need to be thinking about is, "how tightly can I wedge all this in and how tightly can I strap it all down?" Whether computer parts or not. And if you're moving to a place with different power, Buy Way More Inverters Than You Think You Need. Get big heavy duty ones and lots of them, not "just enough", because they will break eventually.
Best of luck with your move. I bet you'll be watching the port for your ship like I was! ;)
All them years of priest training, taken out by one bounty hunter.
My wife works for a company that helps people relocate internationally and according to her, heat/cold/water isn't your problem (although do your best to keep moisture out). Your biggest concern is it arriving at all. :) She says a large percentage (25-50%) of the cargo containers just don't get there at all, getting lost who knows where along the way, or arrive severely damaged. Her company's advice is to ship as much as you possibly can by air and only put the stuff that's easily replaceable in the cargo container.