Containers and Receiving
Freight forwarders in your own countries should have arrangements with a receiving agent here in Melbourne who will arrange Customs and Quarantine clearance and delivery to the Club. However if you need the services of a receiving agent here in Melbourne, we have appointed Stokes and Bell as our recommended agent.
The contacts, if required, are:
Doug Prosser – Manager Transport and Warehousing +61 419 333 373 douglas@stokesandbell.com.au or
Neil McGoldrick – Manager Import Clearance & Licensed Broker +61 3 9933 8488 neil@stokesandbell.com.au
Customs
Carnet – the best and easiest way through Customs is with the use of an ATA Carnet (an international customs and temporary export-import document). If you are sharing a container it would probably be best if there was a separate carnet for each owner of equipment in that container.
Quarantine
Australia has very strict quarantine laws and regulations, especially as it relates to the use of timber as props etc inside containers. Timber should be ISPM 15 compliant. Timber that is not ISPM 15 compliant will require mandatory treatment. For more information please follow this link as a quarantine inspection will almost certainly take place, most likely at the company depot.
Shipping
We have been advised that, if possible, you should get your freight forwarder to arrange a direct service to Melbourne to avoid any possibly prolonged stopovers in foreign ports. We have also been advised to allow plenty of time for your container to arrive prior to the event to allow for any hold ups in shipping delays and possible customs and quarantine delays.
Storage of Containers
The Club has limited space for storage of containers during the event, and there will be a charge for storage outside of the event itself. Therefore we recommend that containers be emptied and taken away and then reloaded into a new container at the end of the events.
Loading and Unloading of Containers
We understand that some containers will arrive in Melbourne well before the sailors or coaches arrive. Please be advised that, whilst the Club will have volunteers available to assist, we will not unload a container without the owner being present.
This will mean that if your container arrives before you do, it will be stored at your receiving Agent’s depot until you arrive, or at our appointed receiving agent Stokes and Bell’s depot. They will then arrange on shipping to the Club ready for you, at your expense if it occurs. For the containers that have been accepted to remain on-site for the event then that is no problem, they can be on-site until you arrive.
Therefore it is important that you let us know the approximate ETA of your containers, and the receiving agent you are using, so we can make the appropriate arrangements.