Established in December 2003 in Patenga Industrial Area, Chattogram, Summit Alliance Port Limited (SAPL) was listed with Dhaka and Chattogram Stock Exchange on 16th October 2008. Summit Alliance Port Limited (SAPL) is the pioneer and market leader in the Inland Container Depot (ICD) and Container Freight Services (CFS) industry.
SAPL has three container depots including one depot of erstwhile OCL. All the depots at Chattogram and River Terminal at Muktarpur have certification from Global Security Verification (GSV) which is the leading international network for supporting the development and implementation of measures for enhancing global supply chain security. This GSV certification has established the fact that the company has the appropriate security measures, as published by the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, in place and that these measures are maintained throughout the facilities. Along with GSV, all SAPL facilities are International Ship & Port Security (ISPS) compliant which is a security measure set by the IMO (International Maritime Organization) along with Verified Gross Mass (VGM) approved by Department of Shipping, Government of Bangladesh as part of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention.
With over 25 years of experience SAPL enjoys excellent relationships with the major Shipping Lines and Freight Forwarders.
Off-Dock Facility
The Off-Dock facilities are located only 7 km away from the Chittagong Port. With a Custom Bonded Area spread over 45 acres of freehold land, SAPL has an ideal geographical advantage to carry out its principal activities of providing services for Empty Container Storage and handling both import and export containerized cargo.
River Terminal
The company's Inland Water Container Terminal facility (IWCT, also known as Muktarpur Terminal or RT), established on 15.19 acres of freehold land on the bank of the river Dhaleshwary in Muktarpur, Munshiganj District, is the first of its kind in the country’s private sector. Being similar in certain respects to the Off-Dock establishment, it has the bonded warehouse facilities with required handling equipment for container freight station to handle export and import cargo as well as empty containers. With regular vessel calls at Muktarpur Terminal and frequency of more than one vessel per week the facility is providing much needed alternative services to both Chattogram Port and the Chattogram based Off-Docks. Having already established regular export and import cargo movement along the Chattogram – Dhaka route the company is now focusing on facilitating bilateral trade with India by connecting SAPL-RT to the ports on the eastern coast of India. Necessary regulatory approval has already been pursued from the Ministry of Shipping and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
Being strategically located close to the RMG hub ("Knit Palli") of Narayanganj, our terminal offer tremendous benefits to the units that are dependent on direct trade with India. Aside from the garments hub there are several food manufacturers (who depend on Indian raw material such as PET Resin) as well as pre-fabricated steel manufacturers (who import steel plates from India). Presently all the containerized imports from India are being routed through hub ports like Colombo, Singapore, Port Kelang followed by which the container/cargo is transported to Dhaka from Chittagong, all of which in turn are incurring high cost for the Bangladeshi business community.
The River Terminal is in a position (with support of the Shipping Lines) to issue Through Bill of Lading from RT site, thereby allowing exporters to negotiate their documents earlier. Moreover the Dhaka-based exporters can enjoy additional time to complete the production and dispatch related activities.
Vision of the River Terminal project:
- To provide a facility that will cater to the exporters and importers located around Dhaka, where approx. 70% of Bangladesh’s trade originates and terminates.
- Provide secured transportation service from the River Terminal to Chittagong Port by specialized container vessels.
- Provide reliable and timely services for the exporters and importers.
Principal Activities of SAPL
Principal activity of the company is to provide ICD/CFS services, from both the Chattogram and Muktarpur facilities to its valued clients. As part of this purpose, SAPL offers the following services:
- Inland Container Depot (ICD): The depot facilitates transportation and storage of empty containers at SAPL's yard and redelivery of the containers to various locations as per clients’ advice. It also provides some customized services to its clients such as container condition survey, container repair and maintenance, fumigation etc.
- Container Freight Station (CFS): CFS facilitates activities related to export cargo handling as well as import cargo handling. These includes the following services:
- Receiving of export cargo, storage of the same in bonded warehouse, documentation to complete formalities related to export, stuffing (loading) of the cargo in the container, transportation of cargo to Chattogram Port's Container Yard or Vessel Hook point as per clients’ advice.
- Receiving import container from Chattogram Port's yard and transporting the same to SAPL's yard, documentation, un-stuffing of the import cargo and handing over of cargo to clients.
SAPL has a strong existing client base, with over two decades of proven business relationships. The company is presently handling 60% of Damco (Maersk Logistics), 85% of Kuehne + Nagel and 80% of APL Logistics, the 3 largest Freight Forwarders (FF) in Bangladesh. Approximately 90% of cargo is being transported by trucks from Dhaka and surrounding areas (and vice versa) which are a positive sign for SAPL River Terminal. Transportation by rail using Dhaka ICD is becoming difficult with long delays and occasional accidents. Import containers can take up to 21 days to reach Dhaka. With timely voyages and certainty of journey (i.e. not prone to strikes, road accidents, delays) importers will have better control over their inventory.
Summit Alliance Port Limited handles over 20.5% of the country’s entire containerized export and is the largest performer of the industry for export and also handles significant percent of the permitted containerized import items.
Clientele
Company’s valued clientele includes Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Corporation, CMA-CGM, APL, Damco, APL Logistics, Kuehne + Nagel, Expo Freight, Hapag Lloyd, ONE, OOCL, PIL, China Shipping Line, Yang Ming Line, Shipping Corporation of India, UPS, DSV, etc. as well as several prominent Main Line Operators and Freight Forwarders.