Malta - British Expat Forum

Anyone got any experience of putting a car and trailer on the ferries to Malta?

Would a car + trailer be classed as 'commercial' even though it's only some house goods for personal use? The rest is coming by container.

I'm looking at using the Grimaldi Ferry from Genova to Malta, but can't find anything which gives a price for towing a box trailer (12ft long x 7ft high approx - box is 8ft x 6ft x 5ft).

Doesn't seem to show height limits, etc for ferry decks either.
My trailer sits about 6in higher than my Shogun when parked on level ground.

It's not the cost that bothers me, as have no other option but to pay it.
More worried about any size restrictions,difficulties which might be encountered on the ferry, or overzealous jobsworths at the port.

pumabob, have a look at the General Conditions on the Grimaldi website, although the section under "ACCOMPANIED VEHICLE" isn't 100% clear, but they do mention appendix and tow-hook though. I'm not sure for definite, but I think that I saw a car with a small trailer on the way down to Malta from Rome.

http://www.grimaldi-lines.com/england/htm/tariffe/2009/Grimaldi09EN.pdf

If you only have personal belongings in the car / trailer, you won't be classed as commercial, how you could prove that is another matter, but that will be no problem. And you'll have no worries regarding size restrictions, 90% of the vehicles are huge lorries and you'll be up parked on the open deck. There was even an Irish guy transporting pigs when I went back to Rome and he had a twin-lorry, i.e a normal lorry with a second container connected as a trailer, and even he managed to get parked, albeit with some difficulty.

I would check with Grimaldi via phone or email that taking a trailer is OK, but it should be alright. When booking an oversize vehicle, you just have to insert the total length (car + trailer) in the "VEHICLE EXCEEDING ON OF l. 6m, h. 2,10m, w. 2m. " field. It's 30 euros per metre per journey. That bit confused me a little, I couldn't understand if I was to put in the overall dimensions, the number of metres over the maximum, but for oversize they are only interested in the length.

Thanks BB71,
That info is a great help

The height of both the car and trailer is under 2.10m so I shouldn't have any problems there. Will get the tape measure out to check the overall combined length, then give Grimaldi a call.

Was a little apprehensive because I'm used to sailing on the Irish Sea ferries, including the HSS, most of which have 2 decks - one lower roof and one high roof for lorries etc.

Forget passenger ferries, this is a freight ferry with some space left over for a few cars and vans. I would suggest you call the Malta office of Grimaldi, you'll get somebody who understands English, which might be difficult if you call one of the Italian offices, especially if you have a strong Northern Irish twang in your accent.

http://www.grimaldi-lines.com/england/htm/uffici_sociali.htm

I got stung on the way down for a price, both large vans I could have hired (either 6 or 6.5m length) were about 2.4m in height, so I had to pay for an oversize vehicle. If the roof had been 30cm less I would have saved about 190 euros. Grimaldi's dimensions are not very favourable, I don't know if a 6.5m van exists which is less than 2.1m high. I was thinking about gambling and booking the cheaper price, but if they catch you you have to pay double the difference in price, so I didn't want to risk it.

Thanks again BB,

Will try e-mailing the Malta office, mainly because I do seem to have a strong Ulster Scots twang, according to my missus

Just to make you feel slightly better, there are no standard vans of 6 - 6.5m which are under 2.1m that I know of. Anything that low is also a lot shorter.

pumabob wrote:I do seem to have a strong Ulster Scots twang

I've had to revert back to speaking slowly and clearly since I've arrived, at least it's nice to speak English again though. The locals don't seem to have too much trouble understanding me, the Italians couldn't understand a word.

pumabob wrote:there are no standard vans of 6 - 6.5m which are under 2.1m that I know of.

That's what the woman in the van hire place said too, we determined that Grimaldi had been a bit sneaky and unfair on their maximum size measurements.

pumabob wrote:there are no standard vans of 6 - 6.5m which are under 2.1m that I know of.

would be if you let enough air out of the tyres....

Not even Baldrick on one of his most cunning days could have thought up that plan.

I think I've been living in Gozo too long - that was the first thing that came to mind, and I can imagine it happening here

Sounds like the next van he sees will be driven by men in white coats

can anyone advise what is most economical way to get some furniture to gozo from uk not enough for a container thanks

How many cubic feet (roughly) ?

hi mark as in previous posts coming in march joining forum in next
couple of days as cubic capacity not sure about half container perhaps luton van ish want to be living in gozo by summer thanks

In that case you should look at groupage - ie taking part of a container



look forward to seeing you on the recommended suppliers forum soon