Shipping times and costs from Albany, United States of America to Lagos, Nigeria

Shipping Container Costs to Nigeria

Looking to move your belongings to Lagos?

If you’re in a rush, putting your possessions on a plane is possible, but pricey – it’ll typically cost you much more than shipping them to Nigeria by sea.

How to get quotes for shipping to Lagos

1. You’ll be asked to provide a few details about your move to Lagos
2. If we have shipping partners who can help you, they’ll contact you with quotes
3. You can compare these quotes and choose the deal that suits you
4. Our shipping partners will then help prepare your shipment for customs, deliver it door-to-door, and generally make the process as easy and stress-free as possible

Should you choose sea freight or air freight?

You may decide to send your belongings to your new home in Lagos via plane or ship – either way, it should be an informed decision.

Here are the main advantages of each method, with more detailed explanations available on our Air Freight vs Sea Freight page.

Benefits of Sea Freight

• A 99.99% safety record
• Sea freight is 12-16 times cheaper than air freight
• You’re typically able to fit more on a ship than a plane
• A container ship creates 44 times less CO2 than a plane
• The International Maritime Organisation has pledged to reduce CO2 emissions from shipping by 40% by 2030

Benefits of Air Freight

• An identical 99.99% safety record
• Planes are faster

However, there are unpredictable factors that can affect your shipping time, such as:

• Natural disasters
• Adverse weather conditions
• A route being unexpectedly blocked, as the Suez Canal was in March 2021
• Global health crises like COVID-19

Clearing customs at the Nigerian border

Customs in Nigeria are strict and particularly bureaucratic, but you can navigate the process fairly easily if you follow the rules and lean on your shipping company’s expertise.

Most shipping companies will send you all the forms you need to fill in before your move.

To clear customs, you’ll need your passport, your visa, a work permit, a resident permit – and that’s before we get to the necessary shipping documents, which are as follows:

• A full and detailed inventory
• Authorisation letter
• Bill of lading (sign the front page in advance)
• Certificate of Residence Change
• Clean Report of Finding
• Clean Report of Inspection
• Form Sale 48
• PUBD (Passengers Unaccompanied Baggage Declaration) form, to be completed upon arrival in Nigeria

Due to the sheer volume of documents you need to fill in during this process, we would strongly recommend using a shipping company to ensure you clear customs without any fuss.

Household goods and personal effects you’ve owned for at least six months are duty-free, along with gifts worth up to ₦50,000 (£88), as long as you’ve been outside of Nigeria for the past nine months, and you don’t intend to sell or otherwise exchange any of the items.

Otherwise, duty rates can go as high as 35%.

You must be present at customs when your shipment comes in, and it must arrive within two months of you landing in Nigeria.

What can’t you bring with you?

The Nigerian government has released two pages of items you’re not allowed to bring into the country: an import prohibition list, and another list entitled ‘Goods: the importation of which is absolutely prohibited’.

The lists are comprehensive, extremely detailed, and occasionally surprising, banning items from mosquito-repelling coils to bagged cement and second-hand clothing.

Make sure you read them thoroughly, as importing a prohibited item can land you in prison.

Is there a shipping port in Lagos?

There are two shipping ports in Lagos: the Lagos Port Complex, which was established in 1913, and Tin Can Island Port, which opened in 1997 – though they’re set to be joined by Lekki Port, which is currently under construction.

Both have massive capacity. Lagos Port handles the equivalent of 360,000 20-foot containers per year, while around 440,000 of these containers pass through Tin Can Island.