Shipping to Punta Arenas, Chile
Shipping to Punta Arenas, Chile is a fairly complicated process. There is no overnight shipping to Punta Arenas, the fastest you can ship anything would be 2-4 days, expect closer to 4 days. For larger shipments it can be as long as two weeks. If you need something there faster, and the item is small enough, it is best to have someone hand-carry the item into the country. Using this method you can get things into the country in less than 48 hours.
To ship anything into the country you must have a local agent clear your shipment though customs. The US embassy in Chile suggests using Agunsa as an agent; they have been handling our shipments for the last several years. I would also suggest that you use a US based freight forwarder. This can be useful for booking shipments on airlines, notifying you if there are problems with paper work, or any snags that might occur with Chilean Customs. We have used International Freight Services (IFS) for the last several years with good success.
The US embassy must be notified that your shipment is being temporarily imported for the NASA OIB project and that it will be returned to the US upon completion of the project. Email Quincy Allison (quincy.allison@nasa.gov) for US embassy contact information.
You must also provide a list of equipment that you are shipping with the following information.
- Item description
- Serial and model numbers
- Country of manufacturer
- Value
- Size and weight of package
Other items to consider are your home institute policies for shipping items to a foreign country. If this is a government shipment it must go through the export control office of the center that it is being shipped from. If you are shipping emergency aircraft parts make sure to specify Aircraft on Ground (AOG) on the package and paper work.
Below is the contact information for the local agent in Punta Arenas:
Milenko Buljan
Branch Manager / Agente Zonal
Telephone: 56 61 617311
Fax: +56 61 228239
Mobile: +56 9 9 825 6761
E-Mail: agenciapuntaarenas@agunsa.cl
Website: http://www.agunsa.com
Address:
NASA C/O AGUNSA
Deposito Franco Antártico
Km 12 Norte
Punta Arenas, Chile
Attn: Milenko Buljan
+56 61 2 617311
Shipping to Ushuaia, Argentina
For shipments to Ushuaia, Argentina please follow the instructions above and ship your items to Punta Arenas. Let ESPO know and we will have our Customs Broker/Agent (Agunsa) forward the items to us.