Subic eyes transshipment deal with Thai group

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority is eyeing a deal with an Isuzu Plant in Thailand for the use of the port of Subic as transshipment point for its trucks.

This after Wallen Philippines Shipping Inc., one of the leading transshipment agents in the country, offloaded in Subic over the weekend 257 units of pickup trucks bound for Damman, Saudi Arabia.

The truck, jointly produced by Isuzu Motors and General Motors in Thailand, are being marketed to more than 130 countries.

SBMA seaport manager Perfecto Pascual said the shipment, which was offloaded from the roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessel MV Estrella Eterna, will stay here for 15 days and will be reloaded to MV Eishun on way to Damman.

“This is quite a significant development for Subic, which is being positioned as a major maritime logistics hub,” said Pascual, who witnessed the unloading of the vehicles at Subic’s NSD pier.

Antonio Calingo Jr., WPSI sales manager, said his firm has chosen Subic as its transshipment hub because of its many advantages over other ports in Asia. J.V. Antiporda

“The security here in Subic is commendable, and the fees for storage, cargo handling, stevedoring and other services are really competitive,” he said.

Calingo said the transshipment was a trial shipment to evaluate the performance of various service providers here, including the WPSI as shipping agent, the stevedores, the cargo handler, and port operator.

He added that the ship owners represented by Wallem needed a transshipment hub to service various shipping requirements. J.V. Antiporda - Journal online