The honest answer is 30 to 36 days port-to-port — but that number covers five very different stages, and knowing what happens in each one makes the wait a lot less mysterious.
If you're using our sourcing service, the clock starts even earlier, with finding and purchasing the right vehicle — usually a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how specific your requirements are. Once a vehicle is ready to ship, booking is confirmed within 24 hours, and pickup follows a few days later, when a carrier collects the vehicle or you drop it at the depot.
From there it typically takes about a week for the vehicle to reach the departure port — Halifax, Montreal, or Baltimore — and be sealed into a container for the next scheduled sailing. This stage is often the most variable, since it depends on the vessel schedule rather than anything you can control.
The ocean crossing itself is the longest single stretch, usually 14 to 18 days to Lagos. Once the container arrives at Apapa Port, customs clearance begins — this can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks depending on paperwork completeness, which is exactly why getting documentation right at the start matters so much. Final delivery to the destination address usually happens within a few days of clearance.
The biggest lever you actually have is documentation. A complete, correct paperwork package rarely gets held up at customs; an incomplete one can add a week or more to the total timeline.