Freighter Travel

To book your journey with the shipping company MACS, please fill in the booking from online:

• Booking Form
• Passport: Send us a copy of your passport valid at least six months counting from voyage commencement.

After receiving your booking forms, we will send you the booking confirmation and invoice whereupon a deposit of 25% is due. The balance is payable until 95 days prior departure. 
If you pay from outside the EURO-zone, paying by credit card might be the cheapest option. But still we have to charge a non-refundable credit card fee of 2.5%.

Further Documents required not later than 21 days prior departure:

• Medical Certificate (not earlier than 30 days prior departure): For Passengers of 65 years or older. Passengers from 70 years on will need as well a medical certificate at the time of booking. Age limit: 6/78 years old. Please present both pages of the certificate to the doctor who completes it, this is important for insurance reasons!
• Passage Contract/ Ticket: You receive it after the first payment. Please sign the first page, send it back immediately and take the printed version with you on board. This is your ticket and has to be shown upon request.
• Copy of your Visa and onward- or return ticket (depending on your destination).
• International health insurance: Send us a copy of your Travel Health Insurance (with your name and contract number) including the Insurance Declaration. Please note that a travel health insurance with repatriation is mandatory for a cargo ship trip.
• Let us know if you plan to bring your bike. Unfortunately E-bikes are not permitted aboard.
• Yellow Fever Vaccination. South Africa only requires seafarers to be vaccinated against yellow fever when entering the country (because it is feared that they may have traveled in yellow fever areas in the past). If you enter South Africa directly (by plane and demonstrably not via a yellow fever area), you do not need a vaccination to enter the country. And you can of course leave the country by any route without a yellow fever vaccination. If you dembark in Durban and travel home northbound, you will enter Cape Town by sea - and the authorities will then want to see a yellow fever vaccination.
• We recomment trip cancellation/ withdrawal insurance.
• You can apply for your Namibia Visa at this link.

Important embarkation and disembarkation info, please read carefully:

• The Passage Contract/ Ticket is your ticket and has to be shown on board upon request.
• Antwerp Immigration Rules: In case of embarking or disembarking in Antwerp, consider their immigration rules
• Port Map Hamburg
• Further information for embarkation in Europe and South Africa.

For further details we refer to:

• Terms & Conditions of Carriage
• General Information for Freighter Travel
• Layout of the vessels Green Mountain, Golden Karoo, Blue Master II & Bright Sky
• Security certificate for package tours in accordance with Section 651r of the German Civil Code and translation

Covid-19

• Shore excursions may not be possible due to restrictions caused by the corona virus. It is imperative to follow the instructions of the ship's management in this regard.
• Full vaccination against COVID-19 is required, and a current antigen test (PCR test for some shipping companies) from a testing station must also be presented upon embarkation.
• No embarkation possible with cold symptoms!

Without the full and proper documentation, the shipping company will not be able to issue your travel documents. Please take all completed forms with you on board.

You are traveling on a modern container ship. Please note that with this type of travel the cargo always has priority. For this reason, deadlines and port sequence are not always adhered to. Although a cargo ship operates according to a fixed schedule, there can be deviations. We therefore urge you to plan your transfers, i.e. your arrival or onward journey to or from the port of embarkation or disembarkation, as late and as flexible as possible, and to take this into account when booking the corresponding tickets.Up to 3 days postponement/delay per week of travel is acceptable. In rare cases, cancellation of the booked freighter voyage is possible. Charter contracts for cargo ships can be cancelled or changed at short notice depending on the current cargo volume. Early bookings may have to be rebooked or cancelled. The lay time in the ports usually takes about 8-12 hours, but may take up to 2 or 3 days in rare cases.

The lay time in the ports usually takes about 8-12 hours, but may take up to 2 or 3 days in rare cases.

Generally there should be enough time for excursions and sightseeing for going ashore during shore leaves. The captain, the crew or the port agent are certainly happy to give recommendations.

On the day of your arrival it will probably be very busy on board as there might be a crew change, caterers and employees of the shipping company and port agents or other authorities are visiting the ship. During this time it could happen, that the captain and officers cannot welcome you, show you around or even answer your questions. But when there is less hectic this will be done. We kindly ask for your understanding! You will see, once you have left the shore a routine on board will appear.

The Slowtravel Experience Terms & Conditions apply.

Cancellation fees upon receipt of the notice of withdrawal from the contract:
- up to 90 days before the expected departure date 25% of the passage price
- 89 up to 30 days before the expected departure date 50% of the passage price
- 29 up to 7 days before the expected departure date 75% of the passage price
- later withdrawal or no-show 95% of the passage price.

For cancellations and changes in the booking we charge a standardised processing fee of €130 per person.