I looked into it some time ago and as i remember it - it was closer to $200/day and almost a month to get to Africa (from NY). Still may do it.

i bet if you do this around the Horn of Africa( think Somalia/pirates) or through the Straits of Hormuz( think Persian Gulf/Bandar Abbas/Iranian gunboats), you can get a much better price.

On a related subject, has anyone looked in to what the cost savings would be to send their trophies back to the US via ship vs. plane? With all the customs red tape on both ends I wouldn't think it would take all that much longer.

you cannot take firearms nor ammo with you if it matters.

There are very few shipping company's that carry passengers anymore, and have not for a while. I used to work for one of the last ones who did it regurlarly.

CMA/CGM can do it, and MSC may do it, depending on the offices where you contact them. I very much doubt that according to the article, they would take 12 people - more like one person, or a couple. (They may have confabulated that number with the total number of crew on a modern ship)

It would also depend on the run - the parts of the world JDOLLAR mentions above, they just wouldn't take passengers at all through areas with a high piracy risk.

It will be boring as hell. There is nothing literally to do, and socialising with the crew simply doesn't happen. They guys do shiftwork and are commonly Phillipino, Indian or Burmese, and keep to themselves mostly; a passenger is just an inconvenience to them.
You will dine with the Officers (Often eastern European or Russian these days).
The one plus is that the food on board is simple but excellent. (Unless you are unlucky.)
I have done it as part of my job, and I can recommend that you take a lot of books. You might see some dolphins. But really there is not much to see at sea. The ocean is a big empty place. It will certainly give you a better idea of how large the world is than flying does...

If you do do it, please remember that the ships and crews are not there for your comfort or entertainment, they are working vessels.
The cost would be about $25 - $100 per day depending. IF they don't want to take you they will just say no it's company police, or they will quote an outlandish day rate to put you off. In some parts of the world and with smaller shipping company's it may be possible to deal directly with the Captain over doing short legs by ship. (Be aware that the money will be going to straight into his pocket and the crew will be taking you "unofficially' ie - on the sly. Don't pay him in advance.)

You may be surprised at the transit times modern ships have.
A port call may be between six and twelve hours, although sometimes more, and you may only be there at night for example.
It is not cheaper than flying: but there is no baggage allowance within reason.

The same Customs/Quarantine red tape apply whether your sending trophies by ship or plane; you would be adding a month or so onto the transit time, although it would be cheaper to ship it by sea inside a part container than by airfreight, and you would need to deal with a Freight Forwarder.

(Taking cased firearms would depend on the shipping company involved. Frankly they are not going to search your bags when you go on. But Customs will search your bags when you come off. As long as you are able to conform to local laws can securely lock them away while in port and tell the Captain...it would help if he was a hunter. )

More info:

https://www.freightercruises.c...ges.php#anchor_menue

The other issue with sea freight is that all sea-freight shipments are billed at a minimum of 1 cubic meter/1000kgs. You don't save a lot of money unless you have large mounted trophies.

What Carlsen said.

Spent enough time on oil rigs to get over it!

Might as well fly and spend some quality time at your destination.

Things have changed hugely in commercial shipping.