Ports are crucial facilities for export and import activities. Port facilities, such as container terminals, play a significant role in the smooth flow of cargo. The faster containers move, the better the port’s performance. The flow of containers is influenced by document handling. The involvement of multiple parties and stringent import document processing often results in lengthy cargo handling times. This issue becomes a national logistics problem for a country. Bonded Logistics Centers, especially in Indonesia, have been established to address this problem. A Bonded Logistics Center (BLC) is a bonded storage place for storing cargo originating from outside the customs area and/or cargo from other places within the customs area, which may be accompanied by one or more simple activities for a specified period before being re-exported. BLC aims to reduce cargo handling activities at the port by transferring some of the cargo inspection activities, originally conducted at the port, to the BLC. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of BLC on the performance of cargo services at the port, particularly for container transport. A port’s cargo service performance is evaluated based on the dwelling time duration and container unloading productivity. This study employs a system dynamics model to represent the actual conditions at the port. The results indicate that the use of the BLC can reduce dwelling time by up to 6%, improve unloading productivity by 2%, and increase yard capacity availability by 11%. © 2025, Faculty of Maritime Studies. All rights reserved.