awc

My car was supposed to be loaded on the boat today, but I cant seem to get a clear answer from AoA? Anyone have better luck than me, and perhaps know the name of the ship?

soheagle

Mine is supposed to be loaded today as well - but I have not called AoA yet. Do you know what boat name it is on?

On Order: 2011 Audi S4 6MT | Deep Sea Blue | Napa Black/Silver | Sports Differential | Nav | B&O

awc

Finally talked to someone who knew what they were doing at AoA. The boats name is the Bangkok Highway, scheduled to arrive in Davisport, RI on 7/10/2010.

NWS4Guy

Grats, she is underway now, looks to have left Emden about 6 hours ago or so

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...0&type_color=9

Currently heading down towards the English Channel, you will lose her from AIS tracking range in the next 24 hours and won't see her again till close to shore at Rhode Island. Her manifest file (sent in 44 min ago) shows she is due in Davisville, RI on the 10th @ 2PM.

awc

Thanks, NWS4!

On an unrelated note, why do we lose sat. tracking when the ship is en route? Do they only have sats over the ports?

NWS4Guy

It is not Sat tracking, it's AIS, which uses FM band radio transmissions, which are only strong enough for about 40 miles line of site along water. Many of the stations picking up and relaying this real-time data to sites like the one above are enthusiast ship watchers like we are for Audi - you are benefitting from then, as the setup is only required around ports to assist in traffic control.

soheagle

Just out of curiosity - are our cars built in Ingolstadt, Germany - sent on rail to Emden to be loaded on the ship? It's just interesting to imagine all the places these cars have to go through to get to us.

awc

I was thinking something similar, soheagle. For some reason, I was under the impression that all of our cars shipped from Hamburg, not Emden. I was surprised to see that Emden was the port of departure.

Anyway, just checked again, and the Bangkok highway is passing through the english channel right now, doing a steady 17 knots (20 miles per hour). Hopefully once they get out into the open seas, they'll be able to put pedal to the metal, as they say in my native land.

They also list an estimated arrival in Davisport of the 10th, which is two days earlier than the arrival date that AoA quoted to me.

And finally, as a question to those that know more than me, after the boat arrives in the 'states, what further steps are involved, and roughly how long to they take? My car is heading to Cincinnati, Ohio...how long do the vehicles normally stay in the recieving port before being shipped out to their respective dealerships? Do I have to wait on any sort of customs issue, or anything like that? Do the vehicles regularly arrive at the dealerships earlier than the quoted delivery dates? Does the number of questions I ask have a direct correlation to the level of excitement I have for my new car?

NWS4Guy

You've got it exactly. Though occasionally some leave via Bremerhaven.

Here you can see the "VW WERK" in Emden, which is the car Ro-Ro (Roll on Roll off) section of the port just for Audi/VW.

http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/?or...92o68wvzotvdms

Zoom in and you can pan around and see all the Audi's with the white covers they place on them to keep the paint clean.

awc

Well, the Bangkok Highway is back on the maps! Its nearing Rhode Island, and should make landfall before the day is over. My anticipation is building, and the only thing that concerns me now is a delay in customs...