Overland Travel - Shipping the Land Cruiser from Bangladesh to Singapore

In Chittagong, Bangladesh, we arranged for our Land Cruiser to be shipped by cargo ship in a container.

In India the lowest freight rate we found was US$ 1600 [Chennai, with Maersk Sealand]. However, in Bangladesh we found PIL Shipping [a Singaporean company] where we paid only US$ 250 for the freight.

If you have the option between India and Bangladesh, shipping from Bangladesh can save you some real money.

On the Bangladesh side

Costs

At PIL Shipping we talked to Mr. Jakir and paid the following:

container: US$ 250
VAT (tax): US$ 18.45
Bill of Lading: US$ 4.48
Total: US$ 272.94 which now [Sept ’05] is around 18284 taka.

It was possible to pay in dollars but PIL Shipping does not accept credit cards.

Filling in an address of the sender and receiver on the shipping document may seem complicated, if not impossible [if you don’t have a receiving party] but we tackled this one by filling in Coen’s full name and passport number in both blanks.

Via PIL Shipping we found a customs broker, Mr. Ahsan of A2Z International. To him we paid the following:

A fixed price for his work, for documentation and customs: 5000 taka
Costs for stuffing and lashing [securing the car in the container]: 1000 taka
Total: 6000 taka [around 75 euros]

PIL Shipping

Isphahani Building, 3rd floor
Sheikh Mujib Raod, Agrabad C/A
Chittagong
phone: 713301, 713306, 727791
GPS Waypoint: 22.32390, 91.81228

A2Z International, customs broker

Mr Ahsan
Progressive Tower [Mezzanine Floor]
1837 Sk. Mujib Road, Agrabad
Chittagong
Tel: 810541 / 810342 or cell phone: 0189 – 320833
GPS Waypoint: 22.32870, 91.81183

Customs office [where we went with Mr. Ahsan to get the Carnet stamped]:
GPS Waypoint: 22.31235, 91.79863

Confusion on Rules

Agents all talked about US$750 dollars for paperwork and customs. Most probably they didn’t know about the Carnet de Passage and thus assumed that we [they] had bribed the customs with big money [apparently around US$ 250] to get the car cleared.

It took time to explain to PIL Shipping and Mr. Ahsan how the Carnet de Passage worked, but then Mr. Ahsan did a great job explaining the Carnet to the customs officials and got it stamped for us.

Shipping from Bangladesh – Conclusion

We are very content with the way the arrangements were completed in Bangladesh. The whole procedure, from the first meeting until getting the car into the container, took about two days. PIL Shi, as well as Mr. Ahsan, were friendly, cooperative and they arranged things in a professional way. We can recommend both organizations.

On the Singapore Side

Costs

At PIL Shipping we talked to Mrs. Alice and paid the following:

THC [Terminal Handling Charges] and VAT [tax]: S$ 187
DO [Delivery Order]: S$ 50
Total: S$ 237
S$ = Singapore Dollar, the rate was S$2.06 for 1 euro

Via PIL Shipping we found our customs broker, Dave of RongDe. To him we paid the following:

A fixed amount for trucking, lifting and opening the container: S$ 240
Our agreement included that we would do the unlashing ourselves to save money but when the time came Mr. Dave found somebody to do this for us [free of charge].
Mr. Dave arranged for a truck with a compressor so we could inflate the tires again [we had had to deflate them in order to pass underneath the door of the container].

PIL Shipping

We don’t have the complete address but it’s a huge building on Cecil Street, which lies between the Thian Hock Keng temple and Lau Pa Sat Hawker Center.

Dave Gordev of RondDe, customs broker
Warehouse:
Keppel Distripark Blk 513 #02-108
Kampong Bahru Road
Singapore 09449
phone: 6377 5256-59

Office:
7, Keppel Road Tanjong Pagar Complex
#03-40 Singapore 089053
phone: 6223 1833

Shipping to Singapore – Conclusion

We knew beforehand about the S$ 237 which we had to pay to PIL Shipping but we were unpleasantly surprised by another S$ 240 for the trucking, lifting and the opening of the container. So the costs of the shipment on the Singapore side were relatively high.

The help of Mrs. Alice in finding our customs broker and the help of Mr. Dave were both great and we recommend both organizations for a smooth shipping procedure on the receiving end.

Additional Reading on Overland Car Shipping

Here’s an overview of all kinds of blog posts about shipping your overland vehicle. Think shipping rates & terminology, loading of the container, customs clearance, as well as links to our shipping experiences.

Check it out: the Landcruising Adventure Explore-Get-Stuck T-shirt Collection