Maersk expands Bangladesh footprint with new customs bonded warehouse

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  • The over 18,500-square-meter customs bonded warehouse in Bangladesh will become the largest of its kind in the port city of Chattogram
  • The new warehouse will be built within the existing premises of the Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals, doubling the existing capacity and adding around 8% additional space to the existing ecosystem
  • Construction of the multi-storied container freight station has begun and is expected to be completed in a phased manner by the end of 2022

Container shipping company Maersk announced the construction of an 18,500-square-meter customs bonded warehouse in Bangladesh, set to become the largest of its kind in the port city of Chattogram.

The Danish logistics group said the new warehouse, a joint project with Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals Limited (ISATL), is expected to help decongest the logistics ecosystem and solve longstanding challenges for local exporters and overseas buyers.

Maersk said that despite the impressive growth of garment exports from Bangladesh, the number of warehouses in Chattogram on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh has not increased since 2012 except for ISATL, which became operational in 2018.

In 2021, the container freight stations (CFS) got clogged with cargo, resulting in delays in the clearance, stuffing and dispatch of containers to Chittagong Port, the main seaport handling in excess of 90% of the total containerized trade to and from Bangladesh.

Delay in offloading cargo also led to longer truck waiting time and delay in dispatch of containers to the port, affecting overall productivity.

Under the scope of this partnership, ISATL will construct a brand-new customs bonded warehouse within the existing premises of the facility located in Pathortoli in Chattogram.

This will double the existing capacity at ISATL and add around 8% additional space to the existing ecosystem at Chattogram.

The construction of the new multi-storied CFS has already begun and is expected to be completed in a phased manner by the end of 2022. Exporters and their overseas buyers will be able to start using the facility from July 2022, once the first phase of construction is completed.

“There was a need for a comprehensive solution to optimize ocean shipping, port handling and inland logistics that would benefit trade in the long term. By partnering with ISATL, we are establishing a facility that has the potential to partially decongest the system from the landside and streamline the flow of cargo in and out of Bangladesh,” said Angshuman Mustafi, managing director of Maersk Bangladesh.

The new multi-storied facility in Chattogram will have storage at G+2 levels to optimize use of available space. There will be an option to offer pallets for all operations to improve overall operational efficiency. Maersk will also offer garment on hanger facility, sorting, product audit, labelling, bar code and RFID scanning, among other services.

ISATL is an inland container depot/CFS operator and the market leader in Bangladesh, handling over 20% of the country’s total exports using its four CFS facilities in Chattogram and Dhaka.

Photo by © Moheen Reeyad