Moto Miwa: First batch of BRZ's and FRS left Japan for Long Beach, CA
 

Moto is very close to some very high ranking Toyota people, maybe someone else on these forums can elaborate. He just posted this on his Facebook. (yes, I'm aware some have been spotted in Washington / Canada previously)

http://i.imgur.com/86AKf.jpg

Attachment 6858

The Auriga Leader (picture he linked to) apparently services the Atlantic Ocean. According to NYK's very incomplete and out of date shipping schedules, they have three RoRo vessels (roll on / roll off -- car carriers) serving the pacific, Virgo Leader, Hoegh Kobe, and Altair Leader.

Virgo Leader is currently in the Indian Ocean, Hoegh Kobe is in the Arabian Sea, leaving Altair Leader... which is currently heading eastbound out of Japan. http://sae.tweek.us/static/images/em...emot-dance.gif

if that's the actual ship carrying the brz/frs, then that vessel is heading to brunswick, GA according to marinetraffic.com with an eta of 5/7/12.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shi...MMSI=564268000

edit: feedbag beat me to it. damn you're good lol.

:thanks::bellyroll::popcorn::happyanim::happy0180: :party0030::confused0068:

It's possible they could stop on Long Beach on the way, too. Hit Long Beach, go to the Panama Canal, go to Georgia... though it's also possible that they're not using NYK at all too, I suppose.

Here's another useful link

if that guy is really close to subaru/toyota heads, then i don't see why he'd find a random pic of a nyk ship. i have a feeling it's actually the aurgia leader vessel. hmm

Auriga Leader is currently north of the UK, that's a fast ship :P

edit: FleetMon is a nice site, though it seems their data is a bit older than the other sites'

yeah you're right lol.

then the only ship that could be carrying the brz/frs is the altair leader ship.

how often do these ships go across the pacific? even if it was once a month, that'd push the expected dealer date to about june. they just have to be in this ship lol. :eyebulge:

Eh, I feel like mid May is still pretty feasible. That's when some FR-S owners have been told to expect their cars (granted, they're supposedly stateside already) It can take about two weeks to go across the pacific, and then probably another week going from the port to the dealership depending on where you live.

do you know what it means when a ship is registered in country x? i thought nyk was a japanese shipping company. they have ships registered in other countries such as singapore.

I think it's related to customs / maritime laws / etc. I think ships change their flags all the time.

i've noticed all the nyk vehicle transportation ships have the name 'leader'.

i narrowed down the search criteria to all cargo ships registered in japan that have the name leader in it.

i think the screen shot below will give an idea of the possible ships carrying the brz/frs.

http://i.imgur.com/aTMcQ.png

i don't think so. here's another pic of the auriga leader. it clearly shows 'singapore' painted on the back of the ship.

http://img.fleetmon.com/thumbnails/A...1.940x1000.jpg

i've spent way too much time on this already lol.

It'd be kind of funny if everybody stalked this car for a few weeks as it crossed the ocean just to find out it was the wrong ship.