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Relocation to Australia by sea container to the port of destination
A relocation to Australia takes place by sea, because no other mode of transport economically moves an entire household over approximately 20,000 km. The Global Logistic Group packs your moving goods in Germany, loads them in Bremerhaven, and accompanies the container to the agreed port in Australia.
Your relocation to Australia ends for us at the Australian terminal. Delivery to the doorstep in Sydney or Perth is explicitly not included. We state this boundary before booking so that you can plan your budget and schedule accordingly.
Those who are professionally seconded, emigrate, or return after years almost always plan their relocation to Australia via container. The size of the shipment then determines the variant. If you wish to move to Australia with a partner and children, you usually fill your own container; individuals often manage with general cargo. The general framework for this is described on our page about overseas removals.
We support you with our many years of expertise
Shipping household goods, furniture, and vehicles in one container
What can actually be included? When moving to Australia, practically the entire household travels with you: furniture, clothes, books, kitchen appliances, and tools. Bulky individual items such as pianos or workbenches are also accepted after prior measurement. Your car or motorcycle can also be accommodated in the same container during your move to Australia, provided there is enough space around it for cargo securing.
Vehicles, however, follow their own rules. Before a vehicle can even be loaded, Australia requires an official import permit, the Vehicle Import Approval. If this document is missing, the vehicle will remain at the terminal. Clarify the permit before the container is packed. We will explicitly point this out in our offer.
Australian biosecurity is stricter than customs. The authorities inspect moving goods for organic residues because the continent protects its agriculture from introduced pests. These items most frequently lead to complaints based on experience:
- Garden furniture and tools with soil residues on feet or blades
- Wooden objects with bark, drill holes, or signs of worm infestation
- Sports equipment such as bicycles, tents, or hiking boots with adhering dirt
- Vacuum cleaners and grills with residues inside
Cleaned and properly documented, these items usually pass inspection without additional costs. We clean critical parts before packing and record this in the packing list. The same standards apply to the furniture itself as for our other international removals.
Transparently calculate the costs of moving to Australia
What determines the price? Four blocks determine the costs of moving to Australia: packaging and collection in Germany, sea freight, terminal fees at the destination port, and local handling. Only the first two are entirely within our control, which is why we separate them clearly in the offer.
You have the greatest leverage with volume. A 20-foot container holds around 33 cbm and is usually sufficient for a three-room apartment, while a 40-foot container holds about twice that. Because every cubic meter saved directly reduces the price, we go through the rooms together before the packing date and sort out items. We do not name fixed flat rates because the collection location, floor, and packing effort shift every calculation. Sea freight is the largest single item when moving to Australia. You should allow several weeks for the journey; we deliberately do not commit to specific arrival dates because transshipment ports and departure rhythms change. You can read about how our sea freight works in detail on the corresponding service page.
Many years of overseas experience of your moving Australia forwarding agency
Anyone who has been handling overseas transports via the port of Bremerhaven since 2008 knows the details that make a move to Australia plannable: a packing list that Australian inspectors accept, and the order in which the papers are submitted. As a moving Australia forwarding agency, we work with permanent partners in the ports of arrival.
Which destination port is suitable depends on your future place of residence. Four ports are regularly called at, each with its own planning argument:
| Destination port | Region | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| Port Botany (Sydney) | New South Wales | Densest call frequency from Europe |
| Melbourne | Victoria | Heavy moving traffic, good forwarding |
| Brisbane | Queensland | Short routes to the northern east coast |
| Fremantle (Perth) | Western Australia | Shortest sea route from Northern Europe |
Fremantle is often the first port of call from Europe. If your destination is on the east coast, you save the expensive inland route across the continent via Sydney or Melbourne. We make this comparison before booking, not afterwards.
Weeks often pass between the packing date and loading. We bridge this gap in our own hall in Geestland, which is directly connected to the port of Bremerhaven via the A27. We describe the same process for moving to the USA; to Australia, only the sea route takes longer.
