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Shipping a Car from Japan in 2026: Costs, Routes and Delays

Published September 25, 2026 · Figures as of September 25, 2026

The price you pay at a Japanese auction is only part of what a car costs you. Freight, insurance, inspection and, above all, your own country's taxes decide the landed cost. Here is how shipping from Japan changed in 2026 and how to plan around it.

Key takeaways

  • Freight is getting dearer again. An index of one-year charter rates for car carriers rose about 45% in 2026, to around $67,000 a day, and operators report tight capacity.
  • Indicative Ro-Ro rates from Yokohama are about $120 per cubic metre to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam (roughly $1,300 for a compact car) and $240 per cubic metre to Southampton. These are indications, not quotes.
  • Transit times on summer 2026 sailings from Yokohama: 21 days to Mombasa, 25 days to Dar es Salaam and 34 days to Bristol.
  • Gulf routes are disrupted. Direct calls at Jebel Ali have largely stopped since March 2026; Khor Fakkan and Duqm are being used instead.
  • Taxes can matter more than freight. In Kenya, duties are calculated from an official price list, so cheaper freight does not lower your taxes.

Freight rates are rising again

Used cars from Japan mostly travel on roll-on/roll-off car carriers (PCTCs). In 2023, a car carrier cost more than $110,000 a day to charter for a year. A record number of new ships was expected to bring rates down in 2024–2025. Instead, the market tightened again in 2026: an index for one-year charters of a 6,500-car ship rose about 45% from the start of the year, to around $67,000 a day, as China's growing new-car exports took up the new capacity.

Höegh Autoliners, one of the largest car-carrier operators, reported tight capacity in the second quarter of 2026, with a net rate of $79.0 per cubic metre, unchanged from the previous quarter. Ship fuel prices also jumped by 30–35% worldwide in early March 2026. There are few signs of rates easing in the second half of the year.

How Ro-Ro freight is calculated

Ro-Ro freight is usually charged by volume: the car's length × width × height in cubic metres, multiplied by a rate per cubic metre. Using one exporter's indicative rates from Yokohama (published without a date), the freight works out roughly as follows:

Destination (from Yokohama)Indicative rate per m³Compact car (about 11 m³)Mid-size SUV (about 15 m³)Transit time (summer 2026 sailings)
Mombasa, Kenya$120about $1,300about $1,80021 days
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania$120about $1,300about $1,80025 days
Durban, South Africa$120about $1,300about $1,800not available
Jebel Ali, UAE$145about $1,600about $2,200direct calls largely suspended since March
Southampton, UK$240about $2,600about $3,60034 days (to Bristol)

Per-car figures are our calculation from indicative rates. They are not quotes: surcharges, the ship's schedule and the car's exact size change the price.

For the UK, another exporter puts the 2026 average at £1,200–1,800 per car, including basic marine insurance.

Ro-Ro or container?

Shipping in a container is not cheaper in 2026. Drewry's World Container Index stood at about $4,470–4,500 per 40-foot container in September 2026. Rates from China to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam were about $4,800–5,000 per 40-foot container in August, and Maersk raised its peak-season surcharge to $2,000 per 40-foot container from June 15.

With three or four cars in a 40-foot container, that works out at roughly $1,200–1,700 per car (our calculation, using rates from China; we found no current figures from Japan). That is the same as or more than Ro-Ro for a compact car, and Ro-Ro is generally 30–50% cheaper. Containers make sense for high-value cars, cars that cannot be driven, small cars that pack well, or ports with few Ro-Ro calls.

Transit times and port conditions

Summer 2026 sailings from Yokohama took 21 days to Mombasa, 25 days to Dar es Salaam, 21 days to Jeddah, 34 days to Bristol and 30 days to Barcelona. For the UK, allow 8–12 weeks from purchase to registration.

  • The Gulf: since the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed in March 2026, direct car-carrier calls at Jebel Ali have largely stopped. Ports outside the strait are being used instead: Khor Fakkan in the UAE (about 24,700 cars by August 2026) and Duqm in Oman (34,024 Ro-Ro units). Freight and war-risk insurance for Gulf routes rose sharply, and some Middle Eastern buyers faced higher storage costs and extra charges from shipping lines.
  • East Africa: waiting times at Dar es Salaam averaged 6.7 days in November 2025. In July 2026, DP World's new car-carrier handling there was reported to have cut unloading times by 90%, which matters now that more cars ship directly to Tanzania.

Costs beyond freight

  • Pre-shipment inspection: about ¥20,000–30,000 per car in Japan. The inspection body depends on your country, for example JEVIC, QISJ, EAA or JAAI.
  • Marine insurance: the insured amount is customarily 110% of the CIF value (car, insurance and freight).
  • Kenya: a car that arrives without the required inspection certificate can be charged 5% of its customs value (reported). More importantly, duty, excise, VAT and the import levies are calculated from the Kenya Revenue Authority's CRSP price list, adjusted for age, not from your invoice. Cheaper freight saves you the freight difference, but it does not reduce your taxes. See East African import rules in 2026.
  • United Kingdom: import VAT of 20% is charged on the value including shipping and insurance, so every £100 of extra freight or insurance adds about £120 or more to your landed cost. The customs duty rate depends on the car's origin and paperwork; check the current rules on GOV.UK before you buy.

Practical tips for 2026

  • Ask for a CIF price to your port, with the planned vessel and sailing date.
  • Allow for surcharges such as fuel and, on Gulf routes, war risk.
  • Use Ro-Ro for running cars and keep containers for special cases.
  • Plan for five to seven weeks from shipment to clearance on most routes, and longer for the UK and Europe.
  • Work out your taxes first. In many countries they are the largest part of the landed cost.

Want the full landed cost before you buy? Tell us the car and your destination port. We quote the car, inspection, freight and insurance to your port, and explain the taxes you should expect. Find my car · How it works

This article is general information. Freight rates and schedules change weekly; the figures above are indications, not quotes.

Sources

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