Car Shipping Company from Saudi Arabia to the UK 0552803439 | RoRo and Container Car Transport to Southampton and London

Home Safe is a car shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK that collects your car from any city in the Kingdom and hands it over to you in London, Manchester, Birmingham or any other British city. The car travels by sea from Jeddah Islamic Port, on a RoRo vessel or inside a container, on a voyage of about 3,700 nautical miles that takes 14 to 20 days, and the whole journey from collection to the British port takes 25 to 40 days. A saloon by RoRo starts from SAR 2,800, and an urgent car flies in 3 to 6 days at a price set on request. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide44ShowHide

1. Who ships a car from Saudi Arabia to the UK?
2. Services of a car shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK
3. Ways to ship to the UK: sea and air, and what about land?
4. RoRo car shipping from Jeddah to Southampton
5. Shipping the car in a container to Felixstowe and London Gateway
6. Car shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UK
7. Shipping cars to the UK from the cities of the Kingdom
8. Types of car we ship to the UK
9. Preparing the car before sea shipment
10. Exporting the car through the Saudi traffic department
11. Documents required to ship a car to the UK
12. British customs on cars and transfer-of-residence relief
13. The left-hand-drive car from Saudi Arabia in the UK
14. Visitor on Saudi plates, or permanent registration?
15. Insuring the car during the voyage
16. Delivering cars from Saudi Arabia in London, Manchester and Birmingham
17. Serving individuals, companies, embassies and consulates
18. Air freight for cars from Saudi Arabia to the UK
19. Steps to ship your car from Saudi Arabia to the UK
20. Tracking the car until delivery
21. Shipping cars from the UK to Saudi Arabia
22. Sea and air shipping to the Gulf states and other countries
23. Tips before shipping your car to the UK
24. Common mistakes when shipping cars to the UK
25. How do you choose a car shipping company to the UK?
26. Why Home Safe for shipping your car to the UK?
27. Related articles and pages
28. Tags
29. Frequently asked questions about car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UK
30. How much does it cost to ship a car from Saudi Arabia to the UK?
31. How long does a car take to get from Saudi Arabia to the UK?
32. Which port does the car leave from, and where does it arrive?
33. Is it legal to drive a left-hand-drive car in the UK?
34. How much is customs duty on a car entering the UK?
35. What are the conditions of transfer-of-residence relief for a car?
36. Can I drive my car on its Saudi plates in the UK?
37. What is the difference between RoRo and a container?
38. Do you ship cars from Riyadh, Dammam and other cities?
39. Which papers are needed to ship a car to the UK?
40. Can a car be flown to the UK?
41. Can I put my belongings inside the car?
42. Which British cities do you deliver cars to?
43. Is the car insured during the voyage?
44. Do you ship cars from the UK to Saudi Arabia?

Route: collection of the car in your city, then Jeddah Islamic Port, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar, then the English Channel and the port of Southampton · Transit time: 14–20 days at sea, and 25–40 days from door to port.

Who ships a car from Saudi Arabia to the UK?

Five kinds of customer ask for this service, and each enters Britain through a different customs door. So our first question is whether you will bring the car back or keep it there. The answer decides whether the Saudi plates are surrendered, whether tax is paid, and whether the car needs testing and registration. The table sums up the cases we see on this route:

Owner	Their situation	What we suggest
A family spending the summer in London	Returns with the car after a few months	RoRo or air, and temporary entry on the Saudi plates
A scholarship student or employee moving to live there	Will register the car in their own name in Britain	RoRo or container, with the relief application made before shipping
A Briton whose contract in the Kingdom has ended	Goes home with a car owned here for years	A container that takes the car and the household goods together
A classic car enthusiast	A rare old car that is hardly ever driven	A dedicated container with wheel lashing
A buyer or dealer	A car sold to a British buyer	RoRo with an import declaration, duty and VAT

Services of a car shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK

On this route we work with vehicles alone, so every item of the service is built around the car and its papers. You can take the whole service from your door in the Kingdom to your door in Britain, or only the part you lack, such as handing the car in at the port yourself and collecting it at Southampton.

• Collection from the address: a carrier lifts the car from your home or the showroom and takes it to Jeddah port.
• Sea freight by RoRo: booking the car’s slot on the vessel and following its loading.
• Shipping in a container: a container for your car alone, or shared with another car.
• Export paperwork: going through the traffic department procedure with you and preparing the customs export declaration.
• Review of the British side: temporary entry, relief or duty, and what your car needs in order to be registered.
• Clearance and delivery: an agent at the British port, then a transporter to your city.

The vehicle service for all destinations is on the car shipping page. Anyone who wants to ship furniture, belongings and parcels will find them in shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK.

Ways to ship to the UK: sea and air, and what about land?

Two seas and a continent lie between the Kingdom and Britain, so the car arrives in one of two ways: by ship or by aircraft. The ship is the norm because its cost is reasonable against the value of the car, and the aircraft is the exception for those buying time. We do not rely on the overland route, because the car would cross several countries and borders and then still need a ferry or the tunnel to reach the British mainland, which makes it costlier and riskier than the sea.

Method	Arrival port or airport	Voyage or flight time	Door time	Suits
RoRo	Southampton	14–20 days	25–35 days	A car that runs and drives
Dedicated container	Felixstowe or London Gateway	16–22 days	28–40 days	Luxury, classic and non-running cars
Air	Heathrow	Hours	3–6 days	The urgent or high-value car

A fuller comparison of the modes is on the shipping methods comparison page, and times for other destinations are on the transit times page.

RoRo car shipping from Jeddah to Southampton

A RoRo ship is built like a floating multi-storey car park that vehicles enter on their own wheels over a stern ramp. At Jeddah Islamic Port a terminal driver takes your car to its deck uncovered, with no wrap on it, and it is then lashed at all four wheels to rings in the deck. The ship then sails north to the Suez Canal, crosses the Mediterranean to Gibraltar, and climbs along the coasts of western Europe to Southampton on the south coast of England.

Stage	What happens to the car	Usual time
Collection and haul to the port	The car is photographed, its condition report is signed, then it is lifted onto a carrier	Same day from Jeddah, up to 3 days from distant cities
Export customs	The chassis number is matched against the export certificate and the declaration is closed	One to two days
The voyage	Suez, then the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the English Channel	14–20 days
Discharge at Southampton	The car is driven to the port compound and inspected	One to two days
Clearance and delivery	Import or temporary-entry declaration, then transport to your city	2–5 days

The sailing may be direct, or the car may change ship at an intermediate port in the Mediterranean or northern Europe. We tell you which kind of sailing it is when you book, because a change of vessel adds days. The method is explained in full on the RoRo car shipping page.

What lengthens the transit time?

• Missing the ship: car sailings to northern Europe are not daily, so papers that are a day late can mean waiting a week or more for the next one.
• Rerouted ships: if the lines divert their vessels from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope route, the voyage grows by about two weeks.
• The summer peak: from May to July many holidaymakers’ cars are shipped to London, and the slots fill early.
• A missing British paper: a car that arrives without the relief approval number stays in the port and is charged storage for every day.

Shipping the car in a container to Felixstowe and London Gateway

The container suits the owner who does not want any hands on the car but those of our crew. The car goes into the container at our yard, its wheels are chocked with timber fixed to the floor, it is strapped down by the wheels, and the door is closed under a numbered seal that is broken only in Britain. A 20ft container holds one car, and a 40ft container takes two cars or a car with a household of furniture. Container ships berth at Felixstowe and London Gateway, both closer to London and the east of England.

Point of comparison	RoRo	Dedicated container	Shared container
How it is loaded	Driven onto the vehicle deck uncovered	Fixed to the floor inside a sealed box	Two cars in a 40ft container
Condition of the car	Must run, brake and steer	Accepts a non-runner, winched in	Accepts a non-runner
Belongings with the car	Not allowed	Possible under a packing list	Limited, depending on space
Arrival port	Southampton	Felixstowe or London Gateway	Felixstowe or London Gateway
Freight	Starts from SAR 2,800 for a saloon	Set on request	Set on request

Your belongings with the car: nothing goes in the cabin or boot of the car, on RoRo or in a container. The container itself, however, has room for cartons and pieces of furniture around the car, written into a packing list in English and covered with the car by a single relief application for anyone moving residence. Securing details are on the container car shipping page.

Car shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UK

The price is made of three parts: moving the car inside the Kingdom to Jeddah port, the sea freight, and the arrival service in Britain. The fixed part we publish is the sea freight for a saloon by RoRo, which starts from SAR 2,800 from Jeddah port to Southampton. The other parts change with your city, the size of your car and the delivery address, so we work them out when you send the car’s details, and the figure reaches you broken down item by item.

Car and method	What it covers	Price starts from
Saloon by RoRo	From Jeddah Islamic Port to Southampton	SAR 2,800
Four-wheel drive or van by RoRo	Charged on length, width and height	Set on request
Car in a 20ft container	Securing, sealing and shipping to Felixstowe or London Gateway	Set on request
Two cars in a 40ft container	The two cars split the container cost	Set on request
Hauling the car to Jeddah port	Carrier from Riyadh, Dammam or another city	Set on request
Transport inside Britain	Transporter from the port to your address	Set on request
Air freight for the car	From a Saudi airport to Heathrow	Set on request

Prices quoted in the market: companies mostly do not publish a specific price for this route, and what circulates is wide ranges. Our previous article gave SAR 5,500 to 10,500 for sea freight depending on the city and the size of the car, and SAR 7,000 to 12,000 for air. Local export guides put shipping a car by sea at SAR 3,000 to 10,000 depending on destination, with port charges of SAR 500 to 1,000. International guides place RoRo between USD 900 and 2,000, a dedicated container between USD 1,800 and 3,500, and air from USD 5,000 upwards. In the opposite direction one British company advertises GBP 666 to 779 for a saloon by RoRo and GBP 725 to 845 for a four-wheel drive. Always compare what the figure covers: port to port, or door to door.

Factor	How it changes the price
Size of the car	RoRo freight is charged per cubic metre, so a tall four-wheel drive pays more than a saloon
Shipping method	RoRo is lowest, then a shared container, then a dedicated one, and air is several times more
Collection city	Every city further from Jeddah adds a longer carrier haul
Delivery city	London is close to all three ports, and Glasgow is the furthest
Season	The summer months are the outbound peak, and late August and September the return peak

How do you bring the cost down?

• Choose RoRo as long as your car runs and is not of the kind you would worry about on an open deck.
• Share a 40ft container with a relative or colleague shipping a car on the same date.
• Hand the car in at Jeddah port yourself if you are in Jeddah or Makkah, and the carrier item drops out.
• Collect it at Southampton and drive it to your city if it is insured and cleared, and the British transport item drops out.

A fuller account of the cost items is on the pricing factors page.

Shipping cars to the UK from the cities of the Kingdom

Every car bound for Britain passes through Jeddah Islamic Port, whatever its city. The difference between one city and another is the length of road the carrier covers before the port, and that road is added to the time and to the price. The car is not driven to Jeddah but carried, because its odometer is recorded in the collection report and because export plates do not allow a long journey. The sea freight is the same from every city, starting from SAR 2,800 for a saloon.

Collection city	Approximate distance to Jeddah port	Added to the time	How the car reaches the port
Jeddah	Within the city	Nothing	Flatbed from the district to the port gate
Makkah and Taif	80–170 km	Same day	Single-car flatbed
Madinah and Yanbu	330–420 km	One day	Carrier on the Hijrah road or the coastal road
Riyadh and Qassim	900–950 km	One to two days	Shared or enclosed car carrier
Dammam, Khobar and Jubail	About 1,350 km	Two to 3 days	Carrier via Riyadh, or loading at Dammam port
Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan	About 650–700 km	One to two days	Carrier on the coastal road
Tabuk and Hail	About 1,000 km	Two days	Carrier via Madinah

Jeddah, Makkah and Taif: the closest cities to the port, so their cars enter the yard on the day of collection. Anyone living in Jeddah will find its districts and procedures in car shipping from Jeddah to the UK, which this article does not repeat.

Riyadh and Qassim: most requests on this route come from the capital, from employees, scholarship students and families who summer in London. The car joins the Riyadh–Jeddah carrier, or an enclosed carrier is booked for it if it is valuable. Collection from the capital’s districts is covered in car shipping company in Riyadh.

Dammam, Khobar and Jubail: the Eastern Province is on the Arabian Gulf, and Jeddah is on the Red Sea. Hauling the car overland to Jeddah takes two or three days but shortens the voyage. The alternative is loading it at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam when a suitable sailing exists, in which case the ship rounds the Arabian Peninsula and the voyage is longer.

Madinah, Abha and Tabuk: their cars are gathered onto carriers that head for Jeddah several times a week. If the ship’s date is close we send a dedicated flatbed so the sailing is not missed. The other cities we serve are on the service cities page.

Types of car we ship to the UK

We ship every vehicle that Saudi rules allow to be exported and the shipping lines accept. The method, though, follows the car: what suits an everyday saloon does not suit a fifty-year-old car. So when you book we ask for the model and year of manufacture, whether the car runs, and any change to its height or tyres.

Vehicle	What is particular about shipping it	Best method
Saloon and hatchback	The lowest size band on RoRo	RoRo
Four-wheel drive and large family car	Measured precisely because freight is per cubic metre	RoRo, or a 40ft high-cube container
Luxury and low sports car	Its low ground clearance does not always suit the ship’s ramp	Dedicated container or air
Classic car	Winched in with its battery disconnected, and it has its own tax treatment in Britain	Dedicated container
Electric and hybrid	The shipping lines set the battery charge level, and we tell you what it is	RoRo or container, as the line accepts

Each category is explained in the car shipping guide.

Preparing the car before sea shipment

The car is handed to the port and its owner does not see it for three weeks or more, so whatever you leave in it is out of your sight all that time. The car terminal also turns away a car that does not meet its conditions, and it then misses the ship. Prepare it a day before the carrier arrives, in this order:

• Fuel: a quarter of a tank or less, a safety condition that ships do not relax.
• Cabin and boot: empty them completely, and remove toll tags, parking cards and the phone holder.
• Washing: wash it outside and underneath, since a clean car shows its scratches in photographs and carries no mud to the arrival port.
• Mechanical condition: a charged battery, a working handbrake, no oil leak and tyres at the right pressure.
• Alarm: switch it off, since an alarm sounding in the hold leads the crew to disconnect the battery.
• Keys: one key travels with the car, and the second stays with you along with photographs of all four sides and the odometer.

Exporting the car through the Saudi traffic department

A car that will be registered in Britain first leaves the Saudi register, and that is done at the traffic department, not at the port. The department issues an export certificate and export plates for the car once its original plates are handed in, and the fee is about SAR 100. A visitor’s car that will come back is not exported at all, but leaves on its own plates as a temporary exit.

• Fines: all are paid before the application is opened, on the car and on its owner.
• Finance: a financed car is not exported before a no-objection letter from the bank and removal of the lien.
• Papers: the original registration card, the owner’s ID or residence permit and passport, and the export form.
• Matching: the officer matches the chassis number, then the plates are handed in and the export plates and certificate are issued.
• Customs declaration: at the port an export declaration is opened in the owner’s name and closed when the car boards the ship.

Note: export plates are valid for a short period, so do not obtain them before the ship’s date is firm. The details and timings of the procedure differ from one traffic department to another and change, so we confirm what applies in your city before you start. A visitor’s car leaves temporarily on a customs carnet, explained on the triptik and carnet page.

Documents required to ship a car to the UK

The car’s file is assembled once and used in four places: the traffic department, Saudi customs, the shipping line and British customs. Every paper in it is tied to the chassis number, so one differing character between the registration card and the bill of lading stops the car at one end or the other. What is required differs with your status in Britain:

Document	Visitor returning with the car	Moving residence	Importer paying duty
Registration card, valid and in the shipper’s name	Required	Required	Required
ID or residence permit, and passport	Required	Required	Required
Export certificate and plates	No	Required	Required
Customs carnet for temporary exit	Required	No	No
Transfer-of-residence relief approval number	No	Required	No
Purchase invoice or valuation of the car	No	Advisable	Required
No-objection letter from the lender	If there is a lien	If there is a lien	If there is a lien
Insurance covering British roads	Before leaving the port	Before registration	Before registration

Each paper is explained on the shipping documents page.

British customs on cars and transfer-of-residence relief

Britain treats a car arriving from the Kingdom like any car imported from outside it. The rule is 10% customs duty and 20% VAT, charged on the value of the car together with its freight and insurance. That rule has two exceptions that matter to customers on this route: the person moving residence, and the person who visits and then returns. The rates and conditions are reviewed by the authorities, so we confirm what is in force before shipping.

Case	Current practice	What you need
Ordinary import	10% duty, then 20% VAT on the total	An invoice or valuation, and payment before release
Moving residence	Relief from duty and VAT	12 months living outside the UK, 6 months’ ownership and use, and no sale for 12 months
Non-resident visitor	Temporary entry with no duty or VAT	The car leaves within 6 months
Historic car	Reduced 5% VAT with no duty	More than 30 years old and in original condition with no substantial change

Apply for relief before shipping: the application goes online to HM Revenue and Customs with proof of your residence in the Kingdom, your ownership of the car and your move to Britain. It usually takes weeks to process, and its outcome is an approval number that is written into the shipment’s documents. A car that arrives before that number waits in the port at your expense, or its duty is paid in full.

After arrival: HMRC is told of the vehicle’s arrival within 14 days through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals system, and the car cannot be registered without that notification. Besides the tax there are arrival costs paid on every car:

Item in Britain	When it is paid
Port handling and the clearing agent’s fee	On release, for every car
Customs duty and VAT	On release, for an importer without relief
Adjusting the lamps, speedometer and fog lamp	Before the test, for anyone registering
Individual approval test or MOT	Before registration
First registration fee and vehicle tax	On registration
Road insurance	Before the first metre on the road

Our service at both ends is on the customs clearance page.

The left-hand-drive car from Saudi Arabia in the UK

Traffic in Britain keeps to the left and its cars have the wheel on the right, and your Saudi car is the reverse. Even so, driving with the wheel on the left is allowed, registering it is allowed, and nobody asks for the wheel to be moved to the other side. What is required is a limited set of changes to the lighting and the speedometer, done before the test and not after, because a car that goes into the test on its original lamps fails and is sent back.

Item	On the Saudi car	Required in Britain
Headlamps	The beam dips towards the right of the road	Adjusted or replaced so the beam dips left and does not dazzle oncoming traffic
Speedometer	In kilometres per hour	Must show miles per hour
Rear fog lamp	Absent on many Gulf-specification models, or on the left side	A lamp in the centre or on the right
Side indicators	Red on some American-specification cars	Amber indicators separate from the brake light
Tint on the windscreen and front side glass	Dark tint is common in the Kingdom	Removal of whatever blocks light beyond the permitted limit

Testing and registration: under current practice a car less than ten years from its date of manufacture passes an Individual Vehicle Approval test showing it meets safety and emissions standards. An older car needs only the annual MOT. Its papers then go to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which issues a British registration number and a registration certificate. We review the registration rules for your model before shipping, and point you to a workshop that carries out the changes if you ask.

Before you decide: insurance premiums on a left-hand-drive car are usually higher and its resale market is narrower, so it suits the owner who will keep the car more than the one who means to sell it there.

Visitor on Saudi plates, or permanent registration?

This is the decision on which everything above is built. A visitor brings the car in temporarily, so pays no tax, changes no lamp and registers nothing, but is bound by a time limit. Someone moving residence registers the car and goes through the test, but keeps it with no time limit. Confusing the two cases is what costs car owners most on this route.

Item	Temporary entry	Permanent registration
For whom	Someone whose home is outside the UK	Someone moving to live there, or importing the car
Duration	Up to 6 months in any 12	No limit
Plates	Saudi, and the car stays registered and licensed in the Kingdom	British, after the test
Duty and VAT	Not paid	Paid, or relieved for the person moving under conditions
Saudi procedure	Temporary exit on a carnet, with no deregistration	Deregistration and export plates
Who drives it	Its visiting owner, not a resident relative	Any insured driver

In London: the capital charges a daily fee on a car that does not meet emissions standards across all its boroughs, and a congestion charge in its centre. A car on a foreign plate is registered with Transport for London before it enters the zone so that its compliance is known.

Insuring the car during the voyage

Three weeks at sea and handling at two ports make marine insurance an item worth thinking about, especially for a car worth many times its freight. The Saudi motor policy on the car stops covering it at the port gate. So on request we issue a marine transit policy for the value you declare, covering the car from collection to delivery.

• What it covers: total loss, and external damage that happens during loading, the voyage or discharge.
• What it does not cover: mechanical faults, scratches recorded in the collection report, and anything left in the car.
• Basis of a claim: the condition report and photographs at collection, then the inspection report at the arrival port before the car moves.

The types of cover are on the cargo insurance page.

Delivering cars from Saudi Arabia in London, Manchester and Birmingham

The arrival port is not the end of the service. After release the car is lifted onto a British transporter and taken to your address, because a car that is not yet registered may be driven on the road only in limited cases. London is the closest city to all three ports, the Midlands and northern cities take an extra day, and Scotland two. The distances below are approximate from Southampton:

City	Approximate distance from Southampton	Delivery after release
London	About 130 km	Same day or the next
Birmingham	About 210 km	One day
Cardiff	About 190 km	One day
Manchester	About 370 km	One to two days
Leeds	About 380 km	One to two days
Glasgow	About 700 km	Two to 3 days
Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle and Edinburgh	Depends on the city	One to 3 days

Key handover after inspection: the driver sets the car down outside your home, and you walk round it with him holding the photographed collection report from the Kingdom. You compare the body, glass, wheels and odometer reading, write any remark on the report before signing, and then take the key. Anyone who prefers to collect it at the port gets the compound location and opening hours from us. Door-to-door service is explained on the door-to-door shipping page.

Serving individuals, companies, embassies and consulates

Most customers on the route are individuals, but part of it is requests from bodies with different paperwork. A company ships under its trade name, a diplomat ships with a note from the mission, and a government body with an official letter. We prepare each one’s file in its own format, and ask nobody for a paper that does not concern their case.

Customer	What they usually ship	What we add for them
Individuals and families	The family car for the summer or for a move	A review of customs status before booking
Scholarship holders and students	One car with study belongings	A shared container and a date that fits the start of term
Companies and showrooms	Display cars or the cars of seconded staff	A tax invoice and a contract for several shipments
Embassies and consulates	Diplomats’ cars at the end of a posting	Coordination with the mission on the diplomatic exemption papers

Air freight for cars from Saudi Arabia to the UK

Air freight puts the car at Heathrow Airport in London within 3 to 6 days of collection, against a month at sea. It is requested by the owner of a luxury car who does not want port handling for it, or by someone arriving in London for a short holiday who wants the car from the first week. The car leaves from King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, King Khalid Airport in Riyadh or King Fahd Airport in Dammam, depending on the flight available.

• Loading: the car is driven onto a metal pallet and lashed to it by its wheels, then the pallet is raised into the hold of the freighter.
• Safety conditions: little fuel in the tank, a battery with its terminals made safe or disconnected as the airline instructs, and no pressurised containers in the car.
• Destination: Heathrow in the main, and other airports such as Manchester when a suitable cargo flight exists, with delivery to the address in London, Manchester and elsewhere.
• Customs: they do not change with the mode. Temporary entry, relief and duty apply just as they do by sea.
• Price: set on request, following the car’s weight and its footprint on the pallet and the flight available, and it is several times the sea freight.

Service details are on the air freight page.

Steps to ship your car from Saudi Arabia to the UK

The order starts with a message and ends with your signature on the delivery report in Britain. Between the two are eight steps, half of them paperwork that comes before the car moves. We arrange them this way so that no car is loaded and then found to be missing a British paper:

1. You send the car’s details: model, year of manufacture, your city and the delivery address, and whether you will bring it back or keep it there.
2. We settle your status: temporary entry, transfer-of-residence relief or import, and we suggest RoRo, container or air.
3. You receive an itemised price: the sea freight, transport in both countries, and an estimate of what is paid to the British authorities.
4. You complete the papers: the relief application if needed, then the export certificate from the traffic department or the temporary-exit carnet.
5. We collect the car: a signed condition report and photographs of all four sides and the odometer, then a carrier to Jeddah port.
6. Export and loading: the customs declaration is closed, the car boards the ship or the container is sealed, and the bill of lading reaches you.
7. The voyage: we give you the departure date and expected arrival, and any change of vessel on the way.
8. Clearance and delivery: our agent releases the car, it is carried to your address, and you take the key after inspection.

Tracking the car until delivery

A car on board carries no tracking device of its own, but the ship itself is monitored. After loading you receive the bill of lading with the vessel’s name and voyage number, so you can follow its position daily on marine traffic maps. From our side we send four notices: when the car enters the port, when the ship sails, a few days before arrival so you can ready the insurance and papers, and at customs release. How to follow it is on the shipment tracking page.

Shipping cars from the UK to Saudi Arabia

The route works in both directions, and the return season is the end of summer. We book the car from Southampton to Jeddah Islamic Port or to Dammam port, and our agent in Britain collects it from your address or you hand it in at the port yourself. The paperwork in the opposite direction falls into two cases:

• A visitor’s car going home: it left the Kingdom as a temporary exit, so it returns on its plates and carnet with no new duty. What matters is that it leaves Britain before its six months run out.
• A car bought in Britain: a full import into the Kingdom. Current practice is that the steering wheel must be on the left, so right-hand-drive British-market cars are not accepted, and that a passenger car must be no more than five years old, with a conformity certificate, customs duty and VAT.

We confirm the Saudi import conditions in force before you buy or ship.

Sea and air shipping to the Gulf states and other countries

Britain is one of many destinations we ship cars to. The Gulf states and Jordan are served overland by car carriers, because the road to them is shorter and cheaper than any ship. Turkey, Europe and North Africa are served by sea from Jeddah port on RoRo and in containers. Air freight for cars is available to most capitals. And if your European trip starts on the Continent and not in London, each country has its own article: car shipping company from Saudi Arabia to France, and car shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Belgium. All destinations are gathered in car shipping from Saudi Arabia.

Tips before shipping your car to the UK

These tips are the gist of what we tell a customer on the first call. Most of them concern timing, because this route is long and any late step on it is counted in weeks, not days.

• Count the date backwards: fix the day you need the car in Britain, take off six weeks for the sea, and add the weeks of the relief application if you are moving.
• Ask for a British insurance quote early: few insurers cover a foreign plate or a left-hand-drive car, and finding them takes time.
• Ask about your model before shipping: on some Gulf models the headlamps are easily adjusted, and others need new lamps at a high cost.
• Keep the old proof of ownership: an applicant for relief shows that the car was owned and used for six months, so do not transfer its ownership shortly before travelling.

Common mistakes when shipping cars to the UK

Mistakes on this route are few in number and high in price, because most are discovered when the car is in a distant port. We list seven that we have seen recur:

• Deregistering a car that will come back: a deregistered car cannot enter Britain temporarily, and its return to the Kingdom becomes an import.
• Shipping the car before the relief number: port storage is charged on it, and the duty may be paid in full.
• Declaring less than the real value: British customs make their own valuation, and insurance pays out on the declared value only.
• Leaving bags in the boot: a RoRo car with belongings in it may be refused at the terminal gate.
• Forgetting the arrival notification: its deadline is 14 days, and overrunning it delays registration and risks a penalty.
• Driving the car from the port uninsured: an offence for which the car is seized.
• Lending a visitor’s car to a resident relative: the condition of temporary entry is that no UK resident drives it.

How do you choose a car shipping company to the UK?

The difference between one company and another on this route does not show in the sea freight, which is close because the shipping lines are few. It shows in the questions you are asked before booking, and in what happens to the car after it lands at Southampton. These are signs by which to tell a serious company:

Sign	A company you can rely on	A company to be wary of
First question	Asks whether you will register the car or bring it back	Asks only for the model and gives a figure
Price	Itemised: the Kingdom, the sea, Britain	One figure with no word on what it covers
British end	A named agent who clears and delivers	Its role ends at the quay
Legal standing	A published commercial registration and a written contract	A phone number with no address or registration

Why Home Safe for shipping your car to the UK?

Because we start from the end of the journey, not its beginning. We ask what will happen to the car in Britain, then build the Saudi papers, the shipping method and the ship’s date on that. We stay with you after Southampton until you take the key, and the price that reaches you before loading spells out what it covers and what it does not.

To book: 0552803439 by call or WhatsApp, from 7 am to 11 pm. Or use the request a quote page.

Related articles and pages

• Car shipping company from Jeddah to the UK
• Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK
• Car shipping from Saudi Arabia
• Sea car shipping from Jeddah
• Car shipping company in Jeddah
• Shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UK

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Frequently asked questions about car shipping from Saudi Arabia to the UK

How much does it cost to ship a car from Saudi Arabia to the UK?

Our sea rate for a saloon on a RoRo vessel starts from SAR 2,800, counted from Jeddah Islamic Port to Southampton. A four-wheel drive is priced on its dimensions, and the container, air freight and the haul from Riyadh or Dammam to the port are all items set on request.

How long does a car take to get from Saudi Arabia to the UK?

The ship covers the water between Jeddah and the English coast in 14 to 20 days. Add collection from your city, the wait for the sailing date, discharge and clearance, and the total is 25 to 35 days by RoRo and 28 to 40 days by container. By air it is 3 to 6 days.

Which port does the car leave from, and where does it arrive?

It leaves from Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea, the loading port for cars from the whole Kingdom on this route. RoRo vessels land cars at Southampton in the south of England, and containers are discharged at Felixstowe or London Gateway east of London.

Is it legal to drive a left-hand-drive car in the UK?

Yes, it may be driven and registered even though traffic there keeps to the left. Its headlamps must be adjusted so they do not dazzle oncoming drivers, its speedometer must show miles per hour, and its rear fog lamp must sit in the centre or on the right. Under current practice a car less than ten years old passes an individual approval test before registration, and we go through the rules in force with you before shipping.

How much is customs duty on a car entering the UK?

Current practice is a 10% customs duty charged on the value of the car plus its freight, then 20% VAT on the total after duty. Anyone moving their residence to Britain is relieved of both under conditions, and a visitor who brings the car in temporarily does not pay them. We confirm the rates in force before shipping.

What are the conditions of transfer-of-residence relief for a car?

Three basic conditions: you have lived outside the UK for at least 12 consecutive months, the car has been yours and in your use for 6 months before the move, and you undertake not to sell, hire out or lend it for 12 months after it enters. The application goes online to HM Revenue and Customs and produces an approval number, and it can take weeks to process, so it is filed before the ship is booked.

Can I drive my car on its Saudi plates in the UK?

If you are a visitor who does not live there, yes, for no more than 6 months in any 12. The car stays registered and licensed in the Kingdom, it needs insurance that covers British roads, and nobody resident in the UK may drive it. When the period ends the car either leaves or is registered there.

What is the difference between RoRo and a container?

With RoRo a port driver takes your car onto the vehicle deck inside the ship, uncovered, and it is then lashed by its wheels. In a container the car goes into a steel box, is fixed to the floor and is locked in under a seal. RoRo costs less and requires a car that runs, while the container protects better and accepts non-running and classic cars.

Do you ship cars from Riyadh, Dammam and other cities?

We ship from every city in the Kingdom. The car is lifted onto a carrier at your address and taken to Jeddah Islamic Port, so it is not driven on the road on export plates. From Riyadh and Qassim that adds a day or two, and from Dammam and Khobar two to three days.

Which papers are needed to ship a car to the UK?

The registration card, valid and in your name, your ID or residence permit and passport, the export certificate and plates from the traffic department if the shipment is permanent, a purchase invoice or other proof of value, and the consignee’s details and address in Britain. Add the relief approval number for anyone moving residence, and a no-objection letter from the lender if the car is financed.

Can a car be flown to the UK?

It can, from Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam airports to Heathrow, and to other airports such as Manchester depending on the flight available. The car is secured to a pallet inside a freighter aircraft, with its tank nearly empty and its battery made safe. It takes 3 to 6 days, and the price is set on request because it follows the car’s weight and dimensions.

Can I put my belongings inside the car?

No. On a RoRo vessel the car travels empty apart from its spare wheel and original tool kit, and anything left in the cabin can get it refused for loading. Anyone who wants their belongings to travel with the car chooses a container, where the cartons are stowed beside the car under a detailed packing list in English.

Which British cities do you deliver cars to?

London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Cardiff, along with Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle and Edinburgh. The car is carried from the port on a transporter to your address, you inspect it with the driver against the photographed loading report, and then you take the key and sign.

Is the car insured during the voyage?

Your Saudi motor policy does not cover the car on board a ship. So on request we issue marine transit insurance for its declared value, starting when we collect it and ending when we hand it over.

Do you ship cars from the UK to Saudi Arabia?

Yes, from Southampton to Jeddah Islamic Port or Dammam port by the same two methods. A visitor’s car that left temporarily comes back on its own plates. A car bought in Britain, however, is treated as an import, and current practice in the Kingdom is that the steering wheel must be on the left and a passenger car must be no more than five years old, with a conformity certificate, duty and VAT.