New Vehicle Tracking in Transit

**Lima** · 14-08-2009, 02:33 PM

If you are waiting on a new car and want to track its progress to Australia you can do so by using the links below.

First of all you need the VIN of your car, so depending on your relationship with your dealer you might have to play nice, haha. Once you have the VIN you simply copy and paste the full 17 characters into the "Cargo ID" field on the Wallenius Wilhemsen (WW) tracking site.

Generally speaking, the car won't show up on the tracking site until a few days after it has been built. Once you're in you'll get a rough itinerary of the vessel's voyage, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Voyage Number". You can also do few other nerdy things by going back to the first link (below) and searching by "Bill of Lading" or "Booking Number" - by doing this you should be able to see the VINs of the other cars on the boat (although, usually this will be limited to all cars of the same manufacturer - Volkswagen, Audi etc).

WW tracking:
http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppTracking/cargoTrack.do

From the WW site you will also get the name of the boat your car is on. The WW site only updates itself after the vessel has left each stop. So, if you want to keep a closer eye on the boat you should be able to do so using the links below. In my experience they don't always update reliably, but when they do, you can get real time stats and progress, pretty damn cool!

http://aprs.fi/
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/

This is all fresh in my mind as I have just been through the waiting process with my S3. If you're a real nutjob, like me, you will make the time to go to the port on the day your boat arrives and your car is being unloaded. Then, if you're timing is spot on you might be lucky enough to see something like this!

Have fun!

**Luminary** · 16-08-2009, 05:27 PM

Thanks for this...

Tried today and it says my car has been loaded on the vessel

On board the TAMESIS (EF931-TAM) it is scheduled to arrive in Brisbane on the 28/9/09.

So my car has been built. Seems so hard to believe it all happened since ordering in May.

Didn't realise it would go so many places before getting here. Here's the itinerary of the vessel.

BREMERHAVEN GERMANY 13/08/2009 15/08/2009
SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM 17/08/2009 17/08/2009
LE HAVRE FRANCE 18/08/2009 18/08/2009
ZEEBRUGGE BELGIUM 19/08/2009 19/08/2009
BALTIMORE, MD U.S.A. 28/08/2009 29/08/2009
SAVANNAH, GA U.S.A. 31/08/2009 31/08/2009
MANZANILLO PANAMA 04/09/2009 04/09/2009
PAPEETE FRENCH POLYNESIA 16/09/2009 16/09/2009
AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND 22/09/2009 22/09/2009
NOUMEA NEW CALEDONIA 25/09/2009 25/09/2009

EDIT: http://aprs.fi/?call=257565000&mt=m&z=9&timerange=43200 ----That tracking thing is so bloody awesome it's not FUNNY!!!! The Tamesis' callsign is LAOL5 (MMSI NUMBER: 257565000) and you can see where it is right now!! Amazing!

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...tml?call=LAOL5

Here is a new and better site for ship tracking: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...208:40:37%20AM

EDIT: 18/9/2009 - I think I've taken tracking your car to a new level of nerdiness by looking for the Tamesis vessel carrying my car on publicly available webcams! I succeeded in watching it leave Southampton this morning at 8:15am or so local time and then enter Le Havre harbour at 2:49 pm local time. Here are some pictures (and I'm hoping to continue watching the ship along its journey)...

Here in Southampton:

I've put a red arrow at where the front is. It was more obvious in motion but also dark. The angle of view of the webcam is shown in the Google graphic and the position of the Tamesis also indicated.

And more impressively on a user controllable webcam at Le Havre (very cool). First shot we see the tug ship going out to greet the Tamesis (the red ship)...

then as it crosses the main part of the harbour/bay...

and as it goes towards the dock into the distance... I got the Le Havre welcome centre into the shot

There are more intermediate shots, but these show the idea well. Now I know the ship definitely exists.....

EDIT 19/8/2009: The webcam at Zeebrugge updates every 5 mins and unfortunately the Tamesis passed by without being caught by the camera. Here's the URL for anyone in future who might have their boat going through this port: http://www.meteo.be/meteo/view/en/15...Zeebruges.html

Next stop is Baltimore so I'll be trying to get some pics from there when it arrives on the 28/9/09.

EDIT: 6/9/2009: Well the Tamesis was somewhat delayed going through the Panama Canal. I had setup some automatic captures for the webcams there and last night the Tamesis went through the first of the locks (called Gatun) and I was awake to make sure everything went well. I went to bed at 11:45 PM. The camera I had set up for the Miraflores locks had been working perfectly for 48 hours already so had a mass of footage. It would take the Tamesis 8 hours or so to get to the other locks.

As it turned out I slept in for Father's day and my two boys came and greeted me in bed. It was 9:00 AM and we slowly went downstairs and to my horror, and proving Murphy's Law the auto setup had quit working 8 hours before, only minutes after I went to bed. So I don't have the transit through the Miraflores locks, and that would have been the more impressive of the videos!

Anyway, it's on its way now to Papeete.

Here is the video of the Tamesis transiting the Gatun Locks in case anyone is interested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQEA3DaouyY

Here are some static images:

You can see the end of the writing "TAMESIS" there.

And finally the low resolution camera:

Enjoy... especially those who also have their car on this ship (I know there's at least one other person - but his is an Audi

**apom** · 21-08-2009, 07:05 PM

Luminary, I am so so impressed (and so afraid) at your level of nerdness! I assume you are either a private detective or work for the tax office!!

**Swallowtail** · 21-08-2009, 07:12 PM

Luminary, my wife says you need help....

**jeniems** · 22-08-2009, 07:16 PM

Interested in whether it is only Passats & european models that can be tracked via the Wilhelmsem system.

I have ordered a new beetle - and have the VIN# - will it show up or do the beetles get carried by another carrier?

My VIN doesn't show up when I enter it on the website that Lima has linked, so does this mean I should be searching another shipping company - would Patricks be the site I need to access?

I have now received three different delivery dates from the dealer, each extending longer, and I'm feeling a little bit like - hey - where's my car?

Would really like some advice on finding out where it is with the tracking stuff.
Thanks for any advice you may be able to offer

**gregozedobe** · 22-08-2009, 10:06 PM

You might want to check your VIN with your dealer - sometimes they get it wrong. AFAIK the Wilhemlson (sp?) site does all Oz bound VWs and Skodas at least (I was able to track both mine, but they were both built in Europe).

**Lima** · 25-08-2009, 07:55 PM

Luminary, keep up the good work. All you need to do next is see the car coming off the ship!

**Luminary** · 04-09-2009, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by Lima

Luminary, keep up the good work. All you need to do next is see the car coming off the ship!

Thanks mate.

I'll do an update in the post above in the next day or so. Hopefully it wiil all work out. The ship seems to be approaching the Panama Canal now and is due to dock in Panama city and leave again sometime in the next 20 hours.

I understand now what you mean by 'when it works' in terms of the shipping tracking system.

Apparently it relies on the efforts of volunteer/enthusiasts who install AIS receivers and transmit that data to those web sites. The ship went missing obviously over the Atlantic ocean; and briefly came up at Baltimore, then went dead again from Chesapeake bay onwards. Nothing at all since.

I've just got the schedule to go on now.

**Luminary** · 05-09-2009, 07:32 PM

Well the Tamesis was moored for most of the day. The port of "Manzanillo" in Panama is not easy to tell where it is. I think the word in Spanish means something along the lines of 'ill defined' or maybe 'flexible location' - so the docking can happen in any number of port areas perhaps. Not sure, but it was moored at Coco Solo for about 7 hours before setting out later than scheduled - on the 5th September 3:30am Panama local time (about one hour ago from our time which is currently 7:30 pm).

So the next port is Papeete on the 16/9/09 which leaves only 12 days from then until docking in Brisbane.

The time passes surprisingly quickly.

**ur85q** · 11-09-2009, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by jeniems

Interested in whether it is only Passats & european models that can be tracked via the Wilhelmsem system.

I have ordered a new beetle - and have the VIN# - will it show up or do the beetles get carried by another carrier?

My VIN doesn't show up when I enter it on the website that Lima has linked, so does this mean I should be searching another shipping company - would Patricks be the site I need to access?

Hi - Did you end up locating your car? I am having a similar "challenge" with my R36.