Bangladesh to Russia Shipping: Sea Freight Routes, Costs and Cargo Solutions

Bangladesh to Russia shipping is built around one main product, ready-made garments, and one routing point reported in 2022: containers leaving Chattogram on 9.5-metre-draught ships changed ships in a hub port before the main ocean leg. This guide reads the sources we could find on that routing, on a reported container service between Chattogram and Vladivostok, and on the trade data. It then lists the cost lines to ask a forwarder to quote, with an invented example, and the sanctions and banking checks to make first. It gives no real rates, and several of the sources are dated, so each figure carries its year. For the Chinese side of the same port, see China to Bangladesh shipping via Chattogram.

What Do the Trade Data Say?

A Business Standard report of 22 June 2022 gives financial year 2020-21 figures: Bangladesh's exports to Russia were USD 665.32 million, imports from Russia were USD 481.88 million, and apparel exports were USD 593.66 million. It says readymade garments make up about 90% of total exports to Russia and that Bangladesh held an 11.72% share of Russia's USD 6.91 billion of apparel imports in 2020. It quotes a customs duty of 5% to 20% on Bangladeshi clothing in Russia, which is a 2022 statement, so check the current tariff with a broker.

A TASS dispatch datelined New Delhi, 7 May, with no year shown in the text we read, quotes Russia's ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander Khozin, saying trade turnover has remained at around USD 2.5 to 3 billion in recent years and naming textiles and garments first among Bangladeshi exports, alongside leather goods and pharmaceuticals. The 2022 report puts two-way trade in 2020-21 at about USD 1.1 billion, against TASS turnover of USD 2.5 to 3 billion for unspecified recent years, so the periods differ and neither source explains the gap; do not combine them. The safe reading is that garments are the main product in both sources and that the totals depend on which source and year you use.

Why Does Cargo From Chattogram Change Ships?

A Business Standard report of December 2022 says only vessels with a 9.5-metre draught and a length of 190 metres could berth at the Chattogram port jetty, carrying 2,500 to 2,600 TEU, and that the port authority expected to take 10-metre ships in the first half of 2023. We did not confirm whether that happened. It names Singapore, Klang and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia and Colombo in Sri Lanka among the transhipment ports that operate such vessels to and from Chattogram.

Hub ports can add delay. A Financial Express report of November 2020 quotes feeder berthing delays of two to four days at Colombo and about two days at Singapore, and says shippers using Chattogram were getting delayed delivery of containers. It is a 2020 snapshot, not a current figure. The practical lesson is that a transit time quoted for the ocean leg alone leaves out the feeder leg and the wait at the hub. For the Singapore side, see China to Singapore port shipping.

What Is Known About a Chattogram-Vladivostok Service?

FESCO's service between Vladivostok and Chattogram was reported twice, with different routings.

The Interfax report says the service would run with transhipment at Shanghai and an estimated transit of 28 days, and the SeaNews report says transhipment was moved to Ho Chi Minh City, cutting the average transit from Chattogram to Vladivostok to 19 days, with the weekly Vietnam Direct Line served by three FESCO-owned ships. We found no report after March 2024, and FESCO's sea lines page does not list a Chattogram call in the regular routes we read. Ask the carrier whether the service still runs, who owns the connection risk at the hub and what the current schedule is.

Which Cost Lines Should You Ask For?

We do not quote rates, and none are sourced here. What a forwarder should itemise is below.

• Origin handling and terminal charges at Chattogram.
• The feeder leg to the hub and any hub handling.
• The main ocean leg to Vladivostok, with the surcharges shown separately.
• Destination port handling at Vladivostok.
• Rail or road delivery inside Russia, if the consignee is not in the Far East.
• Duty and taxes in Russia, which the consignee's broker should calculate.
• Insurance, bank charges and any storage, demurrage or detention; see demurrage and detention charges explained.

Two quotes are comparable only if they cover the same scope. In the invented example below, all figures are made up.

Quote A looks USD 1,800 cheaper, but the buyer must still pay for the two missing lines. Ask every forwarder for the same scope in writing.

What Cargo Solutions Fit Garments?

Because garments are the main outbound product in the data above, packing and handling deserve as much attention as the choice of container. A full container suits an order that fills it; smaller orders may be consolidated, as in LCL consolidation and container sharing, but consolidated cargo adds a consolidation step at the origin and a deconsolidation step at the destination. Ask your packer how cartons will cope with several handoffs and a change of climate between loading and delivery, and see packaging and palletizing standards for export cargo. We did not read Russia's labelling, marking or conformity rules for apparel for this guide, so ask the consignee's customs broker which requirements apply to your goods before you ship.

Bangladeshi export formalities should be confirmed with your forwarder, your bank and the customs authority, because we could not read the current procedure pages. The Incoterms rules in your sales contract decide who pays for each leg.

Which Sanctions and Payment Issues Should You Settle Before Shipping?

Restrictions on Russia-related trade are set by different jurisdictions and are revised from time to time. The points below quote official or reported wording. They are information, not advice, and they say nothing about avoiding any control.

• Payments. The 2022 Business Standard report says the BGMEA president cited banking difficulties in trade with Russia and that commerce ministry officials linked the complexity of direct banking transactions to US sanctions. Check how your bank treats Russia-related payments before you accept an order.
• Banks abroad. In its June 2024 advisory, OFAC warned foreign banks that conducting or facilitating significant transactions with, or giving any service to, Russia's military-industrial base carries a risk of being sanctioned. The advisory says the risk does not apply to institutions that are solely facilitating permissible transactions, such as those related to food, agriculture, medicine, energy and telecommunications. It defines Russia's military-industrial base to include all persons blocked under Executive Order 14024 and any person operating in the technology, defense, construction, aerospace and manufacturing sectors of the Russian economy.
• The carrier. The Interfax report of 23 October 2025 names PJSC FESCO among the entities in the EU's 19th package, and a Cleary Gottlieb tracker places FESCO among UK designations of 19 May 2023. Whether either affects a Bangladeshi exporter turns on its banks, buyers and goods, so take advice.

For the wider picture, read Russia sanctions and logistics compliance.

A Checklist Before You Commit to a Booking

1. Get the full routing, the hub port, the vessel names and the written schedule from the carrier.
2. Ask for the quote on the same scope as every other offer.
3. Confirm Russian duty, labelling and conformity requirements with the consignee's broker.
4. Check how your bank and the buyer's bank will handle the payment.
5. Run sanctions screening on the buyer, the consignee, the carrier and every bank, and file the result.
6. Write into the contract who bears the risk at the hub and what happens if a connection is missed.

Work With RR Brothers and Logistics

RR Brothers and Logistics has its headquarters in Guangzhou and offices in Coimbatore and Mumbai. It arranges sea freight, multimodal transport and customs clearance. The firm publishes no Bangladesh office, no Russia office and no scheduled service for this lane. Tell us your cargo and we will advise whether and how we can handle it, subject to the compliance points above, or contact us to talk first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. The Business Standard: BGMEA wants duty-free market access to Russia (22 June 2022)
2. TASS: Russia expects growth in trade turnover with Bangladesh, ambassador says
3. The Business Standard: Ctg port ready for vessels with 10-metre draught (31 December 2022)
4. The Financial Express: Ships wait longer at Chittagong port due to berthing delay in Singapore, Colombo (14 November 2020)
5. Interfax: FESCO container service between Vladivostok and Chattogram (2 November 2023)
6. SeaNews: FESCO changes port of transshipment for Bangladesh (7 March 2024)
7. FESCO: Maritime container transportation (regular routes)
8. Interfax: EU 19th sanctions package (23 October 2025)
9. Cleary Gottlieb: UK Russian sanctions expanded following G7 summit (May 2023)
10. OFAC: Updated Guidance for Foreign Financial Institutions (12 June 2024)

This article is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules, rates and procedures change; confirm current requirements with the relevant authority or a licensed customs professional before you ship. Regulatory references were checked against the official sources listed above on 31 October 2026.

Image credits: header photo by Rahim Saikat on Unsplash; photo by Sharafat Siddiqui on Unsplash; photo by Arum Visuals on Unsplash; photo from zzkonst on Pixabay; photo by Julia Taubitz (justmejuliee) on Unsplash. Used under the Unsplash License and the Pixabay Content License.

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