Shipping Company from Riyadh to Nouakchott 0552803439 | Car Shipping, Containers, Household Goods and Dates by Sea and Air

Home Safe is a shipping company from Riyadh to Nouakchott that moves goods, dates, furniture, books and cars by two routes: a container that travels by truck to Jeddah port and then sails to the Port of Friendship, and an aircraft from King Khalid Airport. The two cities are about 6,500 km apart as the aircraft flies, so a container needs 35–55 days door to door and an air shipment 4–8 days. A saloon car by sea starts from SAR 2,800, a kilogram by air from SAR 28, and an express parcel from SAR 110. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide43ShowHide

1. Who ships from Riyadh to Nouakchott, and what do they ship?
2. From Riyadh to the port, then Nouakchott
3. Stages of the journey and transit time from Riyadh to Nouakchott
4. Shipping prices from Riyadh to Nouakchott
5. What sets shipping from Riyadh apart?
6. Shipping furniture and returnees’ household effects to Mauritania
7. Scholars’ libraries and graduates’ books
8. A full container or groupage?
9. Shipping parcels, gifts and personal effects
10. Shipping goods and dates from Riyadh to Nouakchott
11. Car shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott
12. Conditions for bringing a car into Mauritania, and its documents
13. Customs and required documents in Mauritania
14. What cannot be shipped to Mauritania, or needs a permit
15. Receiving the shipment in Nouakchott
16. Is there land freight from Riyadh to Nouakchott?
17. Air freight from Riyadh to Nouakchott
18. Collection from Riyadh’s districts and nearby towns
19. Steps for shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott with Home Safe
20. Tracking and insurance
21. Shipping from Nouakchott to Riyadh
22. Tips before shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott
23. How do you choose a shipping company from Riyadh to Nouakchott?
24. Common mistakes when shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott
25. Why Home Safe for shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott?
26. Related articles and pages
27. Tags
28. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott
29. How much does shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott cost?
30. How many days does a container need from Riyadh to Nouakchott?
31. Riyadh is far from the sea, so how does my shipment reach the ship?
32. Which Mauritanian port does the shipment arrive at?
33. Do you ship a car I bought at an auction in Riyadh?
34. Does Mauritania have an age limit for imported cars?
35. Can the car and the furniture go in one container?
36. I am a student and only want to ship my books. What suits me?
37. Do you ship dates to Mauritania?
38. Does Mauritania require an electronic cargo tracking note like West African countries?
39. Is a returning Mauritanian’s furniture exempt from duties?
40. How long does air freight take from Riyadh to Nouakchott?
41. Do you deliver to the regions outside Nouakchott?
42. Is insurance on the shipment necessary?
43. Do you ship from Nouakchott to Riyadh?

The route: your address in Riyadh → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Mediterranean → intermediate port → Atlantic coast → the Port of Friendship in Nouakchott · Transit time: 35–55 days for a full container, 45–65 days for groupage, and 4–8 days by air.

Who ships from Riyadh to Nouakchott, and what do they ship?

The Mauritanians of Riyadh are imams, teachers, university students, doctors, engineers and traders, and each group has a shipment that resembles it. The student goes home with his books, the employee whose contract has ended with his whole household, and the trader fills a container from the wholesale markets. Alongside them are Saudis exporting dates and goods to a market that speaks Arabic and knows Saudi products. The table sums up what we have seen on this lane:

The shipper	What they usually ship	The method that suits them
The Mauritanian or Saudi trader	Dates, foodstuffs, household goods and clothing	A full container, or pallets in a shared container
The buyer of cars at auctions and showrooms	4x4s, pickups and economical saloons	RoRo for a running car, or a container
The family returning for good	Household furniture and appliances, sometimes with the family car	A 40ft container holding the car and the furniture
The student and the university graduate	Books, reference works and suitcases	Groupage by the cubic metre
The resident sending to family	Gifts, dates, perfume and clothing	Cartons by sea, or by air before occasions
The company and the person with paperwork	Samples, contracts and attested documents	Air freight or express

From Riyadh to the port, then Nouakchott

No ship sails from Riyadh, so the first thing the shipment covers is a road inside the Kingdom. The 20ft or 40ft container is loaded at your door or in our warehouse, then travels west by truck to Jeddah Islamic Port in a day and a half to two days. This leg is not something you arrange on your own: the truck, the driver, the port entry permit and the delivery slot at the quay are all ours to handle.

And why Jeddah rather than Dammam, which is closer to Riyadh? Because the ship is bound for West Africa. From Jeddah it enters the Suez Canal within a few days; from Dammam it has to sail right round the Arabian Peninsula before it reaches the Red Sea. The two gateways compared:

Point of comparison	Jeddah Islamic Port	King Abdulaziz Port, Dammam
The road from Riyadh	About 950 km by truck	About 400 km by truck, or by container train from the dry port
The ship’s heading for Mauritania	North, straight to Suez	South, then round the Arabian Peninsula to the Red Sea
Effect on the transit time	Shorter in total days	Roughly an extra week at sea
When we use it	For almost every Nouakchott shipment	For factory cargo in the Eastern Province, or when a line offers an earlier sailing

Once the container is handed to the quay the export declaration is filed, and it is lifted aboard on schedule. As a rule no container vessel runs from Jeddah to Nouakchott without a stop, so the container is discharged at an intermediate port at the entrance to the western Mediterranean or on the Moroccan coast, and boards a smaller vessel that takes it south to the Port of Friendship. The gateways are explained on the ports and gateways page.

Stages of the journey and transit time from Riyadh to Nouakchott

The figure that matters to you is the number of days between the goods leaving your home and entering the consignee’s. That figure is the sum of six stages; the longest is the sea, and the least predictable is the wait for the second vessel at the transhipment port:

Stage	What happens	Usual duration
Preparation in Riyadh	Packing, inventory and loading the container or consolidating cartons	1 to 3 days
The road to Jeddah	Truck, then port entry and delivery of the container	2 to 3 days
Export and waiting for departure	Customs declaration and the sailing date	3–7 days
The sailing	Red Sea, Suez and the Mediterranean, then the Atlantic, with a change of vessel	25–40 days
Clearance at the Port of Friendship	Declaration, inspection and payment of duties	3–7 days
Delivery	Truck to the districts of Nouakchott or to an inland region	1 to 4 days

Shipping method	Door to door	For whom
Full container	35–55 days	Wholesale goods, a whole household, a car with furniture
Groupage	45–65 days	Boxes of books, cartons and a few pallets
RoRo for vehicles	35–55 days	A car or truck that runs and can be driven
Air freight	4–8 days	Samples, spare parts and urgent parcels

What lengthens the transit time?

• The hand-over between ships: a box that arrives after the feeder has sailed sits at the hub until the following sailing, often seven days later.
• The Cape of Good Hope route: at times some lines avoid the Suez Canal and sail round Africa, which adds one to two weeks to the voyage.
• Filling the shared container: shipments to Mauritania are fewer than to other destinations, so the wait for a full container is longer.
• Papers without French: the valued list is required in French, and translating it after the ship has arrived eats up days.
• A consignee who was not told: if the consignee or the agent is absent at berthing, the container stops in the yard and storage is charged.

Transit times for other destinations are on the transit times page.

Shipping prices from Riyadh to Nouakchott

We write the price as separate lines: the truck from Riyadh to Jeddah, the freight for the ship or aircraft, then clearance and delivery in Mauritania if you ask for them. Some of these lines have a fixed starting figure that we publish; others move with the shipping lines, so we put no number on them before we know your cargo and its date:

Service	Method	Price starts from
Saloon car	RoRo from Jeddah port	SAR 2,800
Kilogram	Air freight	SAR 28
Parcel up to 5 kg	Express	SAR 110
Documents up to one kilogram	Express	SAR 83
20ft or 40ft container	Ocean freight from Jeddah port	Set on request
Cubic metre and carton	Sea groupage	Set on request
4×4, or a car inside a container	RoRo or container	Set on request
Haulage from Riyadh to Jeddah port	Truck or car transporter	Set on request

The prices circulating in the market for this lane are not to be found in writing. The companies that advertise shipping from Riyadh to Mauritania settle for phrases such as “lowest price” and “cheapest rates”, and some offer a 20% discount without stating the figure it is taken from. The only yardstick you have is to ask for more than one price for the same shipment with the same lines. That is why we send you the container and cubic-metre figure on the day you ask, itemised so that you can compare it with others.

Factor	How it changes the bill
Shipping method	A container holding both car and furniture costs a returnee less than two shipments, and RoRo is cheapest for a car on its own
Volume after packing	Sea groupage is charged by the cubic metre. Estimate it with the CBM calculator
Chargeable weight by air	The greater of actual and volumetric weight. Work it out with the volumetric weight calculator
Inland haulage from Riyadh	A place on a scheduled truck to Jeddah costs less than a truck sent out for you alone
Region of delivery	Nouakchott is the lowest, and each region adds according to its distance from the Port of Friendship
Mauritanian duties	They follow the type of goods and their value, and the consignee pays them unless an exemption applies

How do you bring the cost down?

• If you are returning with a car and a household, ask for the single-container calculation before booking two shipments.
• Students going home in the same term share a container, each with a code on their boxes.
• Hand over your shipment ahead of our scheduled truck to Jeddah and do not ask for a dedicated run.
• Send the heavy items by sea and leave to the aircraft what weighs little and is needed most.
• Prepare the consignee’s papers while the ship is at sea, because storage at the arrival port is charged by the day.

The lines are explained on the pricing factors page.

What sets shipping from Riyadh apart?

Riyadh is not a port, but it is the largest market in the Kingdom, and that is what makes shipping from it different from shipping from Jeddah. Goods here are bought and gathered from more than one place before they move, so half of our work in the capital is consolidation before it is transport.

• Car auctions and showrooms: this is where Mauritanians buy the 4x4s and pickups that cope with the sandy tracks of the interior, and we collect them straight from the yard.
• Wholesale markets: Al-Batha and the streets around it are the source of clothing, household goods and perfume, and we call at several shops and bring the purchases together in one container.
• Date markets: Riyadh is close to the farms of Al-Kharj and Qassim, and Sukkari, Khalas and Segae are sold wholesale here.
• Universities and institutes: students of Islamic studies and Arabic graduate with libraries collected over years.
• The dry port: for the exporter who wants export formalities completed inside Riyadh before the container leaves.

Because the road to the sea is long, we tie the loading date in Riyadh to the sailing date in Jeddah. A container that reaches the port a week before its vessel pays storage, and one that arrives after it waits for the next sailing. The capital’s services are in the article international shipping company in Riyadh.

Shipping furniture and returnees’ household effects to Mauritania

Household furniture bound for Nouakchott spends more than a month in the container, crosses two seas and an ocean, and is moved from one ship to another. The heat of the Red Sea at the start of the voyage and the humidity of the Atlantic coast at its end test the packing more than the road does. So we do not pack here as we would for a move within Riyadh.

• Wood: wardrobes and beds are dismantled, each piece is wrapped in corrugated paper, then foam, then stretch film, and its screws are tied to it.
• Glass and marble: stowed upright inside a timber frame, never laid flat under a load.
• Appliances: the fridge and washing machine are drained a day ahead, their internal parts secured, and they are loaded standing.
• Carpets and soft furnishings: breathable bags with moisture absorbers, so that they do not arrive weeks later smelling of mould.
• Cartons: a number on each carton and a matching line on the inventory record that you sign in Riyadh and the consignee checks there.

Electricity in Mauritania is 220 volts at 50 hertz, and its sockets are the European type with two round pins. Most appliances from the Kingdom work there with a plug adaptor, but anything whose motor was designed for 60 hertz may not run as it should, so ask about it before you pay to ship it. The packing method is on the packing guide and furniture shipping pages.

Scholars’ libraries and graduates’ books

Books are the most precious thing a student from the land of Chinguetti takes home from Riyadh, and the heaviest part of the shipment. Hundreds of volumes weigh more than a room of furniture, and paper is ruined by damp faster than wood. That is why we treat a library as a shipment with its own arrangement, and do not put books into whatever empty carton is to hand.

• Small cartons: none heavier than 20–25 kg, so that it can be carried by hand and its base does not give way.
• Stowing: volumes flat or spine down, never wedged in at an angle where they warp.
• Protection: a plastic liner inside the carton and a moisture-absorbing sachet, and a padded box for anything of special value.
• Indexing: a number for each carton and a sheet listing its contents by subject or shelf, so that the library is back in order within a day.
• Manuscripts and rare items: tell us in advance. Some need permission to leave the Kingdom, and all need insurance at their value.

A full container or groupage?

A full container is yours alone, sealed in front of you and not opened until the Port of Friendship. Groupage is space you buy inside a container that also holds other people’s cargo. The first is faster and handled less; the second costs less for a small shipment. The dividing line is usually half a 20ft container.

Item	Full container	Groupage
Basis of the charge	The container freight, whether you fill it or not	The cubic metres you occupy
Where it is loaded	At your door in Riyadh if the street allows	At the consolidation warehouse
Door-to-door time	35–55 days	45–65 days
Handling	Stays closed until arrival	Consignments are sorted at the arrival port
Suits	The trader, the returnee with a household, a car with furniture	The student, the sender of cartons, a trader testing the market

Between the two there is a middle way that we often arrange for students: a container shared by a number of classmates going home in the same period. We collect the boxes from their districts in a day or two, put a code on each person’s boxes, and write a list for each code. In Nouakchott each one takes delivery of whatever carries his code, and the freight is split among them all by volume. Container dimensions are on the container sizes page, and the service is detailed on the sea freight page.

Shipping parcels, gifts and personal effects

Much of what leaves Riyadh for Mauritania is a carton or two: a gift for a mother, Eid clothes for brothers and sisters, or a suitcase that went over the airline allowance. These shipments need no survey, and we collect them from where you live on the day that suits you.

• By sea: in a shared container; the price of a carton is set on request according to its size, and it arrives in 45–65 days.
• By air: from SAR 28 per kilogram, arriving in 4–8 days.
• The small parcel: by express from SAR 110 for up to 5 kg.
• Documents: degree certificates, attestations and contracts from SAR 83.
• What does not go in a parcel: cash, gold and passports. Those stay in your hand luggage.

Details are on the parcel shipping page.

Shipping goods and dates from Riyadh to Nouakchott

The Mauritanian market imports most of what it consumes, and Saudi products are familiar there, with their Arabic labelling. Saudi dates are in demand in Ramadan and in the seasons of hospitality, even though Mauritania grows dates of its own in the oases of Adrar. We ship goods on strapped pallets when the quantity is commercial, and in cartons when it is a gift or a first trial.

Item	How it is packed	What it needs
Packed dates	Cartons on pallets, away from the container wall exposed to the sun	Certificate of origin, health certificate, and production and expiry dates on the pack
Dry foodstuffs and tinned goods	Pallets wrapped in stretch film and secured with straps	Shelf life that covers the voyage and more, and a clear label
Clothing and fabrics	Pressed bales or cartons	Invoice and packing list with count and weight
Household goods and plastics	Tightly stacked cartons with the gaps filled	A precise description of the item on the invoice
Perfume and incense	By sea only for quantities, packed against leakage	The substance declared, because it is flammable
Spare parts and equipment	Wooden crates for the heavy ones	Part numbers on the list

Dry and semi-dry dates withstand weeks at sea if they are packed in sealed boxes and moisture absorbers are placed in the container. Fresh and soft dates belong on an aircraft or in a refrigerated container. The wooden pallet itself must be of heat-treated, stamped timber, or it is rejected on arrival. Tight wrapping and strapping are not an extra, since the container is lifted by crane at least four times before it is opened.

Mauritania is not a member of the Economic Community of West African States and has its own customs tariff, so its duties cannot be judged by those of Senegal or Mali. From what we have checked, it does not impose the electronic cargo tracking note that its neighbours do. Some goods may still need an inspection or a certificate of conformity, so we ask the clearing agent about your item before loading. The service for traders is on the commercial shipping page, and the securing method on the packing and lashing page.

Car shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott

A car that suits the streets and desert of Riyadh suits Mauritania: the steering wheel is on the same side, traffic keeps to the right, and the setting is hot and sandy. Hence the strong demand for 4x4s and pickups from the capital’s market. The journey starts with a transporter carrying the car from the showroom, the auction yard or your home to Jeddah port, where it is shipped in one of three ways:

Method	How the car travels	When we suggest it
RoRo	Driven into the vehicle carrier and lashed in its hold, then driven off at the arrival port	One running car whose owner wants the lowest cost. It starts from SAR 2,800 for a saloon
Private container	Secured by its four wheels inside a 20ft container that is sealed after photographing	An expensive car, a non-runner, or when no RoRo sailing is near
Container with furniture	The car at the front of a 40ft container, a bulkhead behind it, then furniture and cartons	Someone returning for good with a car and a household

The car-with-furniture container is what we recommend to a returning family. One bill of lading, one clearance, and one container freight spread over the car and what travels with it. The condition is that everything in it is written on the list, and that nothing but the original tool kit is left in the cabin. On RoRo a car is accepted only when completely empty. The difference between the two methods is on the RoRo car shipping and container car shipping pages.

And before you sell your car in Riyadh to buy another over there, compare. For a car whose service history you know, shipping it and paying its duties may cost less than the price of its equal in Nouakchott. Send us its make and year of manufacture; we work out the freight and ask the clearing agent for the estimated duties, and then you decide.

Conditions for bringing a car into Mauritania, and its documents

The freight is known before the car moves; what Mauritanian customs asks for is the part that changes. The age condition there has been amended more than once: a limit was set for passenger cars and a higher one for other vehicles, then the restriction was eased and the charges tied to age and engine power. So what you heard from someone who returned years ago may not be what is applied today.

Item	What is applied, and we confirm what is in force before shipping
Steering side	Left, like cars in the Kingdom, so no conversion
Age of the car	A condition that shifts, and affects either acceptance of the car or the level of its duties
Duties	Calculated on a value assessed by customs, and they differ by vehicle type and engine power
Documents for leaving the Kingdom	The registration or purchase contract, and the export certificate and plates from the traffic department once fines are paid
Documents for entry	The bill of lading, the purchase invoice, and the consignee’s ID or passport
A returnee’s car	It may come under the change-of-residence file on its conditions, and we promise no exemption before asking the agent
After release	Local registration and insurance before it is driven

The mistake that costs more than any other is buying before asking. Someone who bids on a car at auction and then finds that its duties come close to its price has lost twice. Send us the car’s details before you pay; the check is free. The general conditions are in the article car shipping from Saudi Arabia and on the car shipping guide page.

Customs and required documents in Mauritania

Arabic is the country’s official language, but customs and port documents circulate in French, and the valued list is required in it. We write the list in Arabic during packing in Riyadh and attach the translation, so that the consignee is not hunting for a translator while the container sits in the yard.

Type of shipment	What it needs
Every shipment	The sender’s ID or residence permit, the consignee’s name as on their document, their address and a Mauritanian phone number
Used household effects	The owner’s passport, a valued packing list in French, dated and signed, and the bill of lading
Effects of someone moving residence	A certificate of change of residence, the exemption letter from the competent authority, an undertaking not to sell, and invoices for new appliances
Commercial goods	Commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin, and the importer’s details
Foodstuffs and dates	The above, plus a health certificate and a product label
A car	What is listed in the car table above

Exemption for used household effects is not automatic. It depends on a letter issued before the shipment arrives or as it arrives, and on a complete file. Anyone who ships without the letter pays the duties and then claims them back, which is a long road. Start applying for the letter when you book, not when the ship berths. Commercial goods carry a customs duty that depends on the item, plus value added tax, both paid by the importer. Sample papers are on the shipping documents page, and the procedure on the customs clearance page.

What cannot be shipped to Mauritania, or needs a permit

Mauritania is an Islamic republic, and what it bans is close to what the Kingdom bans. An offending item in a furniture container is not confiscated on its own; the whole container is held until the matter is settled. So show us anything you are unsure of before the carton is closed.

Item	Ruling
Narcotics and alcohol	Strictly prohibited
Weapons, ammunition and explosives	Prohibited without an official licence
Fuel, gas, paints and loose batteries	Not loaded with household effects, and not accepted by air
Medicines	For personal use with a prescription; commercial quantities under a health licence
Perishable foods	Not shipped in an ordinary container
Cash, gold and original documents	Not shipped; they stay with the traveller
Manuscripts and antiquities	Need an exit permit from the Kingdom
Counterfeit goods	Seized
Zamzam water	Not shipped; its export is not allowed except the traveller’s pack

The general list is on the prohibited items page.

Receiving the shipment in Nouakchott

The Port of Friendship lies south-west of the capital, and there the clearing agent we work with starts from the day we send him a copy of the bill of lading. He files the declaration, attends the inspection and tells the consignee the amount due before any payment. After clearance at the port the shipment leaves by truck for the address, or the owner collects it from the port to save the delivery charge.

Area	Districts	Note
Nouakchott South	Arafat, El Mina and Riyad	Closest to the port, and Arafat is the most populous district
Nouakchott North	Dar Naim, Teyarett and Toujounine	Large residential quarters, with Toujounine on the Road of Hope heading east
Nouakchott West	Tevragh Zeina, Ksar and Sebkha	Government offices, embassies and the central market

The streets of some quarters are sand and a container truck cannot enter them, so the container is unloaded at the agent’s warehouse and distributed in smaller vehicles. We ask the consignee for the location before the ship arrives, to know which vehicle can reach the door. For a shipment bound for another region, these are the approximate distances from the capital:

City	Distance from Nouakchott	Note
Rosso	About 200 km south	On the Senegal River
Nouadhibou	About 470 km north	It has its own port, which we use when a line calls
Atar	About 440 km	Capital of Adrar
Kiffa	About 600 km	On the Road of Hope
Aioun and Nema	Roughly 800 to 1,100 km	The far eastern end of the Road of Hope
Kaedi, Selibaby and Zouerate	Depending on the road	On a date agreed with the consignee

The complete service is on the door-to-door shipping page.

Is there land freight from Riyadh to Nouakchott?

We do not offer it. A whole continent lies between the two cities: the Red Sea, then Egypt, Libya and Algeria or the Sahara. There is no regular trucking line on this route on which a delivery date could be built. If someone promises you a truck to Mauritania, ask which border posts it will cross. The sea container is for the large and heavy, the aircraft for the light and urgent, and there is no third option.

Air freight from Riyadh to Nouakchott

Goods a shop is waiting for before Ramadan, a sample the buyer wants to see before ordering a container, or a spare part that has left a truck standing: none of these can bear two months at sea. The shipment is handed in at the cargo village of King Khalid International Airport and flies to Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport, north of the capital. There is no direct flight from Riyadh that we rely on, so the shipment passes through one or two transit stops, and its owner receives it in Nouakchott within 4–8 days, clearance included.

• What goes by air: urgent goods, samples, spare parts, permitted medicines, soft dates and documents.
• The price: from SAR 28 per kilogram, and the rate per kilogram falls as the weight rises.
• Chargeable weight: a large, light carton is charged on its volume, so choose the smallest carton that holds the contents.
• Parcels and documents: by express from SAR 110 for a parcel of up to 5 kg, and from SAR 83 for documents.
• What does not fly: perfume in quantity, aerosols, and batteries not fitted in their devices, except by special arrangement.
• After landing: clearance at the airport, then delivery within Nouakchott; the regions are completed by road.

The aircraft cuts the time and multiplies the cost, so it is no use for furniture or pallets. A trader whose market is waiting splits the shipment: a small quantity flies to be displayed and sold, and the rest follows in the container. Details are on the air freight page.

Collection from Riyadh’s districts and nearby towns

We come to wherever the shipment is: a home, student housing, a wholesale shop or an auction yard. Entry of large trucks into Riyadh’s districts is restricted to hours set by the traffic department, so we fix the loading time around them, and send a smaller vehicle when the street is too narrow for the container.

Side	Districts and sites	What we allow for
Central Riyadh	Al-Batha, Ad-Dirah, Manfuhah and Al-Marqab	Wholesale shops, and we collect from several in one round
The south	Ash-Shifa, Al-Aziziyah, Badr and Ad-Dar Al-Baida	Workshops and warehouses, with pallets loaded directly
The north	An-Narjis, Al-Yasmin, Al-Malqa, As-Sahafah and Al-Aqiq	Villas and flats, usually with room to park the container
The east	An-Nasim, Ar-Rawdah, An-Nahdah and Al-Qadisiyah	Car showrooms, with collection by transporter
The west	As-Suwaidi, Dhahrat Laban, Irqah and Tuwaiq	Student housing, with boxes gathered by a small vehicle
Al-Kharj	About 80 km south	Date farms and food factories
Qassim	About 350 km north	Wholesale dates moved to our warehouse and then loaded

If you bought your goods in batches, or your shipment was ready before your classmates’ container was complete, we keep it in the warehouse until loading day. Details are on the storage page.

Steps for shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott with Home Safe

1. Tell us about the shipment: what it is, where it is in Riyadh, and which district or region it is going to, on 0552803439.
2. Estimating the volume: by a visit to the home or warehouse, or by photographs and a list for small shipments.
3. Price and method: full or shared container, RoRo or air, at a price that shows its lines.
4. Asking the agent: we go over with him what your item or car needs in Mauritania before you commit.
5. Packing and inventory: numbering and a record of which you receive a copy, and photographs before the container is closed.
6. The road to the sea: a truck to Jeddah port and the export declaration, or delivery to King Khalid Airport.
7. Bill of lading and follow-up: the container number reaches you and the consignee, with a notice at each stage.
8. Clearance and delivery: release at the Port of Friendship, then delivery and a check against the inventory at the door.

You can start the request whichever way is easiest: a call to the same number, a WhatsApp message with photographs of the shipment and its list, or the quote request form on the website at any time.

Tracking and insurance

There are three hours between Riyadh and Nouakchott, so when the clearing agent opens his office there, three hours of your day have already gone. That is why we do not make you a go-between for us and your family: we take the consignee’s number and tell him directly when the ship arrives and when clearance is due. You follow from your side with the container number on the shipping line’s website, and you receive a message from us on leaving Riyadh, entering Jeddah port, sailing, the change of vessel, berthing and delivery.

The sea carrier’s liability for damage is limited under the conventions, and does not cover the value of a household of furniture, a library or a car. Insurance closes that gap for a premium that is a percentage of the value you declare. For it we need a list with values and photographs before loading, both of which are part of our normal work. Details are on the shipment tracking and cargo insurance pages.

Shipping from Nouakchott to Riyadh

Demand in the opposite direction is lower, but it exists: an employee who has taken up a post in Riyadh and wants his books and belongings, a family sending their son traditional clothes and gifts, or a trader importing Mauritanian products. Our agent takes in the shipment there and it is loaded into a container for Jeddah Islamic Port, then carried to Riyadh after clearance. Fish and foodstuffs are subject to the requirements of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and commercial goods to the Kingdom’s duties and tax.

Tips before shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott

• Ask about the car import conditions before you bid, not after the hammer falls.
• Apply for the household-effects exemption letter from day one if you are moving your residence.
• Book weeks ahead of summer and of the season after Hajj, when demand on this lane is at its height.
• Number the boxes of books and write down what is in them; without an index a library stays in its cartons for months.
• Write the consignee’s name in Latin letters as on their document.
• Do not ship food that expires less than three months after loading day.
• Give the clearing agent a Mauritanian number that is answered throughout the voyage.

How do you choose a shipping company from Riyadh to Nouakchott?

Few companies serve the Nouakchott lane, and one that advertises it does not necessarily know it. Ask whoever you deal with three questions: which port does the container sail from, where is the vessel changed, and who clears at the Port of Friendship? Anyone who answers them plainly has shipped there before.

Item	A good sign	A warning sign
The transport chain	One party responsible from your door to the consignee’s	Scattered parties, each referring you to the other
The car-and-furniture container	A separating bulkhead, wheel lashing and a single list	Belongings piled on and around the car
Books	Small numbered cartons with protection against damp	Large cartons with no index
Proof	A contract, a signed inventory record, photographs and an insurance option	A verbal promise and a receipt with no container number
Transit time	Mentions transhipment and gives you a range	Promises two weeks by sea to West Africa
Legal standing	A commercial registration and premises you can visit	A mobile number only

Common mistakes when shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott

• Buying a car at auction and only then asking about its duties in Mauritania.
• Leaving the family’s belongings in the car’s cabin instead of the furniture section of the container.
• Hiding a manuscript or rare book among ordinary books with no declaration and no insurance.
• Packing books in large cartons that tear at the first lift.
• Counting the time from the sailing day and overlooking the days on the road to Jeddah and the wait for the second vessel.
• Shipping perfume or aerosols with the furniture without listing them.
• Comparing a price that ends at the Port of Friendship with one that reaches the door in a distant region.

Why Home Safe for shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott?

Because this lane needs someone who knows both of its ends: the Riyadh market with its auctions, wholesale shops and universities, and the Port of Friendship with its paperwork, its clearing agents and the regional roads beyond it. We handle everything in between under one contract, and ask about entry conditions before a single item is loaded. So the car arrives secured as it was photographed, the library with its index, and the goods on their pallets.

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

Related articles and pages

• Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Nouakchott
• Shipping company from Jeddah to Nouakchott
• Shipping company from Riyadh to Morocco
• Shipping company from Riyadh to Ivory Coast
• International sea freight from Jeddah
• Car shipping

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Frequently asked questions about shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott

How much does shipping from Riyadh to Nouakchott cost?

Each kind of shipment has its own starting figure. A saloon car on a RoRo vessel out of Jeddah port starts from SAR 2,800, a kilogram of air freight from SAR 28, an express parcel of up to five kilograms from SAR 110, and an envelope of documents from SAR 83. The container, the cubic metre and the truck from Riyadh to the port are set on request, because they move with the sailing date and with the volume you are sending.

How many days does a container need from Riyadh to Nouakchott?

We allow 35–55 days for a full container, from the day it is loaded in Riyadh to the day it is handed over at the Mauritanian address. That covers two or three days on the road to Jeddah, the wait for the vessel, a sailing of 25–40 days with a change of ship at an intermediate port, and then clearance at the Port of Friendship. A groupage consignment stretches to 45–65 days.

Riyadh is far from the sea, so how does my shipment reach the ship?

The container or the goods are loaded in Riyadh and travel by truck to Jeddah Islamic Port, a road of about 950 km. From there the vessel heads north to the Suez Canal, then west across the Mediterranean and out into the Atlantic. We book the container’s slot on the vessel before the truck leaves Riyadh, so that it does not sit overnight in the port yard.

Which Mauritanian port does the shipment arrive at?

The Autonomous Port of Nouakchott, known as the Port of Friendship, which is the country’s main container gateway and lies south-west of the capital. For a consignee in the north we look at the port of Nouadhibou when the shipping lines offer a call there at booking time; otherwise the cargo goes by road from Nouakchott.

Do you ship a car I bought at an auction in Riyadh?

Yes. You send us a copy of the purchase contract and an authorisation to collect, and our transporter goes to the auction yard and photographs the car before lifting it. We do ask for its details before you bid, though, so that we can check what Mauritanian customs requires at the time and make sure the car can obtain its export certificate from the traffic department.

Does Mauritania have an age limit for imported cars?

This condition has changed more than once. For a period there was one age limit for passenger cars and another for other vehicles; the restriction was then eased and the charges tied to the car’s age and engine power. That is why we do not give a fixed figure: we ask the clearing agent in Nouakchott what applies on the day you enquire, before you pay for the car.

Can the car and the furniture go in one container?

Yes, and it is what many people returning for good choose. The car is secured by its four wheels at the front of a 40ft container, a timber bulkhead is built behind it, and the furniture and cartons are stowed in the space that remains. The shipment leaves on one bill of lading and is cleared once, and the car and all the belongings are written on the packing list.

I am a student and only want to ship my books. What suits me?

Groupage by sea, so that you pay for the volume of your boxes and not for a container. We pack the books in small, strong cartons so that none becomes heavy enough to split, and we number them with an index of what each holds. If fellow students are going back in the same period, we put all your boxes in one container with a code for each owner, and the freight is divided between you.

Do you ship dates to Mauritania?

Yes, as a gift in a carton or as cargo on pallets. Dates packed in sealed boxes cope with the sea voyage if they are dry or semi-dry, and the fresh ones we send by air. A commercial quantity needs an invoice, a certificate of origin, a health certificate and a label showing the production and expiry dates, and we confirm what the Mauritanian authorities ask for before loading.

Does Mauritania require an electronic cargo tracking note like West African countries?

From what we have checked, Mauritania is not among the countries that impose this note on sea shipments, unlike its neighbours Senegal and Mali. Inspection and conformity conditions for some goods do change, however, so we ask the clearing agent about your particular shipment before the container is closed.

Is a returning Mauritanian’s furniture exempt from duties?

Used household effects may enter free of duty for someone moving their residence, provided an exemption letter is obtained from the competent authority and the file is complete: a certificate of change of residence, a valued packing list in French, signed, and an undertaking not to sell. Invoices are asked for new appliances. We confirm the conditions in force with the clearing agent before shipping.

How long does air freight take from Riyadh to Nouakchott?

From 4 to 8 days to the consignee’s hands. There is no direct flight out of Riyadh that we rely on to Nouakchott–Oumtounsy Airport, so the shipment passes through one or two stops on the way. Clearance at the airport and delivery within the capital are included in that time.

Do you deliver to the regions outside Nouakchott?

Yes. After release at the Port of Friendship the shipment is trucked to Nouadhibou, Rosso, Atar, Kiffa, Aioun, Nema, Kaedi, Selibaby and Zouerate. This haulage is charged by distance and written as a separate line, and it takes from one to four days depending on how far the region is.

Is insurance on the shipment necessary?

It is optional, but we recommend it on this lane in particular. The container is lifted on and off between a truck and at least two ships, and the voyage is one of the longest we handle. The premium is a percentage of the value you declare, the policy is issued in your name, and we attach the pre-loading photographs to it.

Do you ship from Nouakchott to Riyadh?

Yes. Our agent takes in the shipment in Nouakchott and it is loaded into a container for Jeddah Islamic Port; after clearance our truck carries it to your address in Riyadh. Used personal effects need a packing list, and commercial goods are subject to the Kingdom’s duties and tax.