Car Shipping to Dubai

Why ship a car to Dubai from the UK

The Ship Cars is a specialist UK vehicle export company moving cars, SUVs, classics, motorbikes and light commercials to Dubai every month. Gulf demand for UK-sourced luxury, performance and 4x4 stock keeps the Middle East corridor at the top of the value table. Jebel Ali alone clears thousands of British-registered units each year, with Dammam, Sohar, Shuwaikh and Hamad acting as secondary gateways. Typical clients on this lane include GCC dealers and showrooms, alongside private owners relocating to Dubai and returning residents importing a personal vehicle. Our UK-to-Dubai corridor is engineered around predictable transit, transparent pricing and full compliance with Dubai customs.

Vehicles depart from Tilbury, Immingham, Liverpool and arrive at Jebel Ali, Port Rashid via Suez Canal transit via Algeciras or Malta. Typical door-to-port turnaround is 16–22 days from southampton/tilbury to jebel ali, supported by marine all-risks insurance, GPS-tracked UK collection and bonded warehousing where required. For an instant indication of cost, use our car shipping cost calculator or request a tailored quote on our quote page.

How UK to Dubai car shipping works

Every shipment to Dubai follows the same six-step pipeline: free quotation, UK collection or self-drop at Tilbury, bonded UK warehousing and pre-shipment photos, HMRC NOVA / C88 export clearance handled by our UK customs clearance team, ocean transit to Jebel Ali (and onward feeder to Port Rashid where required), and destination customs handover. You choose the shipping mode that best matches the vehicle profile and budget — see the full breakdown on our car shipping costs page or compare live RORO sailing dates to Dubai.

Dubai ports, routing and transit

Vehicles bound for Dubai are typically routed through Jebel Ali as the lead discharge port, with Port Rashid available as alternatives depending on sailing schedule and onward inland transport. We schedule loads to match weekly RORO sailing schedules to Dubai and consolidated shared container departures from the UK. For sole-use loads we book 20ft and 40ft container slots on the same rotation.

• Port of Jebel Ali
• Port of Port Rashid
• UK departure: Southampton
• UK departure: Tilbury
• UK departure: Bristol (Portbury)

Dubai import duty, VAT and customs in 2026

Importing a vehicle into Dubai is regulated and document-driven. The headline framework is summarised below; our team verifies every figure against the latest Dubai customs schedule before quoting.

• GCC specification compliance and chassis-number verification
• 5% GCC customs duty and country-specific VAT
• Right-hand-drive restrictions in selected markets
• Re-export hubs in Dubai, Sharjah and Bahrain

Document checklist for Dubai

• V5C registration document
• Passport and Emirates ID (if resident)
• Commercial invoice
• Bill of Lading
• RTA inspection certificate
• Certificate of origin

For full country-specific customs rules, see our Dubai import guides and articles, our UK and Dubai customs clearance service, or use the duty-inclusive cost calculator for a landed estimate to Jebel Ali.

Other Middle East destinations from the UK

We ship to 8+ other Middle East countries from the UK on the same trade lanes as Dubai. Many customers shipping to Dubai also enquire about Abu Dhabi, Israel because routing, customs documentation and transit windows overlap.