RoRo vs Container Shipping: Which Is Best for Your Vehicle?

Pick RoRo if the car is running, standard road-going, under about £40,000, and bound for a major RoRo port. Pick container if the car is classic, modified, non-running, very high value, or you need to ship personal effects in or around it.

Most of our UK customers ship RoRo. About 35% choose container.

Indicative 2026 prices, standard saloon, port-to-port:

| Route | RoRo | Sole 20ft | Shared container | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | UK → UAE | £695 | £1,950 | £1,150 | | UK → Australia | £2,450 | £2,950 | £2,150 | | UK → Canada | £1,150 | £2,650 | £1,650 | | UK → Nigeria | £750 | £2,750 | n/a | | UK → Cyprus | £695 | £1,750 | £950 |

Full cost detail in the international car shipping costs guide.

RoRo cut-off is typically 24–48 hours before sailing. Container needs 5–7 days to stuff and seal. After that, on-water transit is similar — within 2–4 days of each other on most lanes.

RoRo cars sit in enclosed garages above the waterline. They are lashed but exposed to other drivers during loading and unloading. Damage rate is under 0.5% industry-wide.

Container cars sit in a sealed steel box from origin port to destination port. No other drivers touch the car after stuffing. Damage rate is closer to 0.1%, and what little does occur is usually scuffing from internal movement if the lashing is poor.

RoRo lines strictly forbid items inside the car. If you are caught the line will refuse loading and bill you for storage.

Container shipping allows modest personal effects in and around the vehicle, subject to destination customs limits. Shared container has tighter limits than sole-use.

- Standard saloon, SUV or hatchback to a major RoRo port → RoRo.
• Classic, vintage, motorsport or modified → container.
• Non-running project car → container (winch in, soft strap).
• £50k+ luxury or supercar → sole-use container with enclosed bracing.
• Family relocation with belongings → sole-use container or shared container.
• Multiple cars for the same destination → sole-use 40ft.

If you are still unsure, request a quote and we will price both options side by side.

Here is what actually sits behind the headline number. The RoRo figure of £40,000, covers collection or drop-off at the UK load port, terminal handling in the UK, export customs entry, the ocean leg and standard marine transit cover. The container figure of £695 additionally covers the box, lashing and stuffing at the packing depot. It does not cover destination-side costs, and those are where budgets slip:

- Import duty and local taxes at Your Vehicle, assessed on the customs value of the vehicle rather than on what you paid for it.
• Destination terminal handling and delivery order fees, typically the equivalent of £150–£400 depending on the port.
• Clearing agent fees — usually £150–£350, and effectively unavoidable where the customs system requires a registered broker.
• Storage if clearance stalls. Free time is normally 3–7 days after discharge, then daily demurrage.
• Inland delivery from the arrival port to the final address.

Ask for a landed-cost estimate rather than a freight quote when comparing suppliers — two quotes that look £200 apart on freight can be £900 apart once Your Vehicle charges are added. Our quote form returns freight plus an itemised estimate of the destination charges we can see in advance.

Customs at both ends work from documents, not from phone calls. Assemble these before the vehicle is booked onto a sailing:

- V5C logbook (original, not the green slip). This is the proof of title UK export customs and Your Vehicle customs both work from.
• Purchase invoice or bill of sale showing a realistic value — undervaluing is the single most common cause of a customs hold.
• Photo ID and proof of address for the exporter and the consignee.
• Bill of lading — issued after loading, and the document that releases the vehicle at Your Vehicle.
• Export customs entry (CDS) filed by your forwarder, plus the NOVA/HMRC notification where the vehicle is leaving the UK permanently.
• Insurance certificate confirming cover and the agreed value for the voyage.

Where Your Vehicle requires pre-shipment inspection, roadworthiness certification or an import permit, that document has to exist before loading — it cannot be obtained retrospectively once the vessel has sailed. Our customs clearance guide walks through each stage in order.

- Share a container. Two vehicles in a 40ft box typically cut the per-unit rate by 30–40% against sole use. See how shared loading works.
• Be flexible on the load port. Southampton, Immingham, Liverpool and Tilbury each serve different trades; moving one sailing or one port can change the rate materially. Compare the UK export ports.
• Avoid the peak. Rates firm up ahead of the summer relocation window and around the Chinese New Year equipment squeeze. Booking three to four weeks out is usually the sweet spot.
• Choose RoRo where the vehicle allows it. RoRo is cheaper than container for a standard, driveable car; container earns its premium for high-value, non-runner, modified or parts-laden shipments.
• Get the value right first time. A customs query at Your Vehicle costs more in storage than any freight saving you might have made.

Sea transit on this route runs 5–7 days to stuff and seal. Around that, plan for:

1. Days 1–3 — booking and documents. Quote accepted, sailing reserved, V5C and invoice supplied, export entry prepared.
2. Days 3–10 — collection and delivery to port. The vehicle is collected or driven in, inspected and photographed, and receipted at the terminal.
3. Loading and departure. RoRo units are driven aboard; container loads are stuffed and lashed at the depot, then delivered to the quay. The bill of lading is issued after departure.
4. Ocean leg. 5–7 days to stuff and seal. Transhipment routings add roughly 5–10 days.
5. Arrival and clearance at Your Vehicle. Duty and taxes assessed and paid, delivery order released, vehicle collected within the free-time window.

Build a two-week buffer into any plan that depends on the vehicle being available on a fixed date — vessel schedules move, and customs queues at Your Vehicle are outside any forwarder's control.