New container terminal in Subic a success story
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT--From a beach where American servicemen frolicked during the heydays of the Subic Bay Naval Base here, Cubi Point is now the site of a world class port to complement the development of this freeport and the rest of Central Luzon.
Last week, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated the first phase of the $215-million Subic Bay port development project here.
The completion of the New Container Terminal-1 (NCT-1), built on a 29.2-hectare reclaimed area at Cubi Point, is part of the development of Subic Bay and Clark freeport zones as the most competitive international service and logistics centers in the Asia-Pacific region.
The project is co-funded by the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
New gateway
Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki said Subic, Clark and other areas have found "a new gateway for future growth" with the opening of the container terminal.
"It is also expected to meet the growing demand for Subic and Clark as well as avoiding traffic burden in Manila where more than 80 percent of the country's cargo is presently concentrated," Yamazaki said.
"This is another success story of the ever deeply comprehensive partnership between our two countries and peoples," Yamazaki told Arroyo during the inauguration program.
"As if my own child reached adulthood," Yamazaki said of the project's completion.
Japan funded the project with a P16.3-billion loan.
The project includes the installation of four gantry cranes from Japan, two of which were installed in May last year and the other two in March.
"The entire port modernization project, which is being implemented under the auspices of the JBIC, was designed to make Subic seaport a major container port in the country," said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Feliciano Salonga.
"Today is a day of great import," he said.
Salonga added that the terminal was in fulfillment of Arroyo's vision to make Subic and Clark the country's best logistics hub.
SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said the terminal has drawn tobacco giant Philip Morris to set up a warehouse here.
Master plan
"We bested Singapore and Malaysia," he said, attributing that to the trade missions by Sen. Richard Gordon, the first and longest-serving SBMA chairman and president from 1992 to 1998.
The alliance between Subic and Clark is part of the long-term master plan that will see the construction of the $415-million Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Both the NCT-1 and the SCTEx are funded by the JBIC.
The terminal will not only serve the freeport's investors, SBMA officials said.
Salonga earlier said the project's cargo market includes Clark freeport in Pampanga and Tarlac, Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac City and other export processing zones in Central and Northern Luzon.
It will also service Metro Manila-based exporters and importers to reduce the traffic in the country's capital and serve as transshipment within Southeast Asia.
The natural deep harbor and accessibility to shipping traffic in the region are the major advantages of this freeport, Salonga said.
Arreza said a new 3.1-km road is being built to link the new container terminals to the existing Argaunaut Highway and, eventually, to the SCTEx.
The access road, Arreza said, is scheduled to be completed by the end of September this year.
The newly acquired goose neck type quay gantry cranes, with a capacity of 40.6 tons rated load each, is also part of a bigger plan of the government for the Subic port to enhance its capacity from the present 100,000 TEUs (container capacity measured in 20-foot equivalent units or TEU) to at least 600,000 TEUs.
Better position
Also included in the package are the construction of the modern container terminals, and two berths, measuring 280 meters in length, with a depth of 13 meters.
"With a combined handling capacity six times its original port facilities (at 600,000 TEUs), Subic is in a better position to attract more containerized cargo in the East Asia Pacific region," Arreza said.
"[After this], we expect our existing locators to expand their container movements and new locators to come in," he said.
Investments
Arreza said investments in Subic, as of June, reached $1.38 billion, surpassing the record that the SBMA set last year during the same period.
The operation of the NCT-1 will be awarded to global port operator Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), a joint venture company between SBMA (15 percent) and Subic Bay International Terminal Holdings Inc., (85 percent).
SBITHI, on the other hand, is a joint venture between the International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) and Royal Port Services Inc. with the former owning 83.33 percent.
By Ansbert Joaquin, Tonette Orejas - InquirerLast week, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated the first phase of the $215-million Subic Bay port development project here.
The completion of the New Container Terminal-1 (NCT-1), built on a 29.2-hectare reclaimed area at Cubi Point, is part of the development of Subic Bay and Clark freeport zones as the most competitive international service and logistics centers in the Asia-Pacific region.
The project is co-funded by the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
New gateway
Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki said Subic, Clark and other areas have found "a new gateway for future growth" with the opening of the container terminal.
"It is also expected to meet the growing demand for Subic and Clark as well as avoiding traffic burden in Manila where more than 80 percent of the country's cargo is presently concentrated," Yamazaki said.
"This is another success story of the ever deeply comprehensive partnership between our two countries and peoples," Yamazaki told Arroyo during the inauguration program.
"As if my own child reached adulthood," Yamazaki said of the project's completion.
Japan funded the project with a P16.3-billion loan.
The project includes the installation of four gantry cranes from Japan, two of which were installed in May last year and the other two in March.
"The entire port modernization project, which is being implemented under the auspices of the JBIC, was designed to make Subic seaport a major container port in the country," said Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chair Feliciano Salonga.
"Today is a day of great import," he said.
Salonga added that the terminal was in fulfillment of Arroyo's vision to make Subic and Clark the country's best logistics hub.
SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said the terminal has drawn tobacco giant Philip Morris to set up a warehouse here.
Master plan
"We bested Singapore and Malaysia," he said, attributing that to the trade missions by Sen. Richard Gordon, the first and longest-serving SBMA chairman and president from 1992 to 1998.
The alliance between Subic and Clark is part of the long-term master plan that will see the construction of the $415-million Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Both the NCT-1 and the SCTEx are funded by the JBIC.
The terminal will not only serve the freeport's investors, SBMA officials said.
Salonga earlier said the project's cargo market includes Clark freeport in Pampanga and Tarlac, Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac City and other export processing zones in Central and Northern Luzon.
It will also service Metro Manila-based exporters and importers to reduce the traffic in the country's capital and serve as transshipment within Southeast Asia.
The natural deep harbor and accessibility to shipping traffic in the region are the major advantages of this freeport, Salonga said.
Arreza said a new 3.1-km road is being built to link the new container terminals to the existing Argaunaut Highway and, eventually, to the SCTEx.
The access road, Arreza said, is scheduled to be completed by the end of September this year.
The newly acquired goose neck type quay gantry cranes, with a capacity of 40.6 tons rated load each, is also part of a bigger plan of the government for the Subic port to enhance its capacity from the present 100,000 TEUs (container capacity measured in 20-foot equivalent units or TEU) to at least 600,000 TEUs.
Better position
Also included in the package are the construction of the modern container terminals, and two berths, measuring 280 meters in length, with a depth of 13 meters.
"With a combined handling capacity six times its original port facilities (at 600,000 TEUs), Subic is in a better position to attract more containerized cargo in the East Asia Pacific region," Arreza said.
"[After this], we expect our existing locators to expand their container movements and new locators to come in," he said.
Investments
Arreza said investments in Subic, as of June, reached $1.38 billion, surpassing the record that the SBMA set last year during the same period.
The operation of the NCT-1 will be awarded to global port operator Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), a joint venture company between SBMA (15 percent) and Subic Bay International Terminal Holdings Inc., (85 percent).
SBITHI, on the other hand, is a joint venture between the International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) and Royal Port Services Inc. with the former owning 83.33 percent.
Labels: arreza, gordon, jbic, naval base, NCT 1, sbma, subic bay freeport, subic port
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