RoRo or container: shipping a caged, lowered or non-running car from Japan

What RoRo requires

Roll-on, roll-off shipping treats the car as cargo that moves under its own power. The lines and the Japanese port agents require a car that starts, steers and brakes, with a quarter tank of fuel or less, no leaks, nothing loose inside, no personal effects, and enough ground clearance to climb the ramps and the internal decks of the ship, which are steeper than a car park. Cars that fail the inspection at the port are refused or held for a container at the owner’s cost, which is the expensive way to find out.

A standard Silvia or Chaser on sensible coil-overs passes. A car on its bump stops, a car with the interior and the seats out and the loom hanging, a car with slicks, a car that needs a jump pack to start, or a car with a cage full of loose spares does not, and the more competition-ready the car the less likely it is to go RoRo.

When it has to be a container

A non-runner, a lowered car, a caged car with no interior, a car with parts and wheels to travel with it, or simply a valuable car whose owner wants it out of the weather and away from other people’s doors goes in a container. A 20 ft box takes one car; a 40 ft high-cube takes two, or three with racking, and a group of club cars sharing a 40 ft is the way the per-car cost comes back towards RoRo.

The car is driven or winched in, strapped at the wheels to lashing points, and the box is sealed. Spares can travel in the car or on the floor of the container, but they are goods on the customs declaration in their own right, valued and dutied separately from the car, and a container full of undeclared parts is a customs problem at Dublin. Declare them.

What it costs and how long it adds

Published 2026 figures for Japan to Ireland put RoRo at €800 to €1,400 per car depending on the line and the season, and a 20 ft container at €1,500 to €2,500 including the origin and destination handling. A shared 40 ft splits a higher box rate across two or three cars. The calculator carries three shipping options with default costs of €1,100 for RoRo, €2,000 for a 20 ft container and €1,400 for one car’s share of a 40 ft box, all to Dublin, and you can overwrite any of them with a real quote under Advanced.

Time is the other cost. Container shipping adds one to two weeks for loading at origin and devanning at Dublin, on top of the four to six weeks at sea, and the devanning depot charges storage by the day once the free period expires. Book the customs broker and the collection before the ship docks, not after.

The paperwork does not change

A containerised car is still a car at customs: the export certificate, the invoice with the Statement on Origin, the bill of lading and the customs declaration are the same, and the 30-day registration clock starts when the car arrives in the State however it arrived. What changes is the packing list, which must itemise anything travelling with the car, and the marine insurance, which should name the parts as well as the car.

A non-runner needs one more thing: a plan for moving it. The devanning depot will winch it out of the box, and from there it goes on a transporter to you or to the NCTS centre, which will inspect a car that cannot be driven but cannot register one that cannot be moved onto the ramp.

1. Tell the exporter the car is going in a container before they book RoRo; a car turned away at the port costs weeks
2. Itemise every part travelling with the car on the packing list and the invoice
3. Insure the parts as well as the car
4. Book the broker, the devanning collection and a transporter before arrival
5. The 30-day registration deadline runs from arrival in the State, container or not