After the pre-assembly of the two story garage at our Bali prefabrication facility, we had to then disassemble, pack and ship our Hawaii Sustainable Knockdown Home to our client on the Hamakua Coast. In this episode we talk about the logistics in packing and shipping the 2-story 3 car garage from Indonesia to the Big Island of Hawaii. Teak Bali’s logistics team takes care of all the legal, financial and physical details involved in exporting the shipment out of Indonesia.  We carefully pack and stuff the containers, obtain the appropriate licenses and handle moving the shipment to the port in Surabaya in prep for the international voyage. Our cargo agent always searches for the most competitive shipping rates from Indonesia to the country of destination.

 

Teak Bali makes no profit on the logistics portion of the project life cycle, all cargo based fees are simply pass-through costs from our Indonesian Cargo agent and our Hawaii based import broker to the client. For our non US based clients, It is the responsibility of the client to  locate and contract a local import broker who will handle legally importing the shipment into the country of destination . For our Hawaii based customers who purchase from our US corporation (Namaste Trading Company Ltd), we are affiliated with an Oahu based broker. We have worked with this bonded broker  for over 2 decades and they handle the clearances of our US Based Shipments. As we have cleared over 50 shipments over the years, we have a top notch reputation with the US customs Dept. The client  is also responsible for paying any import tax/duties levied by the local customs agency in the country of destination. For our US Based customers, US customs does not levy any fees for the importation of hardwood product from Indonesia.

This shipment was the first part of a 2 phase shipping process in delivering the completed project to our clients outside of Waipio Valley. The 25 cubics of  finished Merbau and Bangkirai timber used for phase 1 required two 20 foot shipping containers. Our logistics team on the ground in Bali worked strategically to ensure the container was packed efficiently and securely. They started by laying old wood planks on the ground of the container to give some height and added protection against moisture build up. We then sealed off the ceiling of the container with plastic covering to further protect the wood against moisture build-up that may occur in transit. For maximum damage protection of this Hawaii Sustainable Knockdown Home, the Merbau and Bangkirai flooring/decking/siding element was packaged in layers of foam padding and single face corrugated paper before being placed in the container. The container doors can not be closed until the contents of the container has been fumigated. This is a mandatory requirement for all international shipments. This requirement is to help in the prevention of harmful diseases and pest control.  The process involves “hot gassing” where Methyl Bromide gas is sprayed over the contents at 24 degrees. A certificate is provided,  which is shown at the final destination point to help with quarantine clearance.

 

When the containers are packed and fumigated, they are ready to start the journey from our Surabaya prefabrication facility to the international shipping port of Surabaya. Once all legal formalities are attended to with Customs and the Shipping Lines, the containers are set for their journey to Oahu and then onward to the Big Island. Typical shipping timings from Indonesia to Hawaii are 5-8 weeks. Watch out for our next blog where we will talk about the re-assembly process of this Hawaii Sustainable Knockdown Home. For more Blog articles and information on this project, please click here: ‘Hawaii Project A’.