Asian Marine sees record sales

Asian Marine Transport Corp. expects to post record revenue this year and the next despite the tight competition from other local shipping firms and even from airlines offering freight services.

Asian Marine said a little boost from the upcoming Asean integration would take the company go a long way.

Asian Marine may breach the $1 billion mark in revenue terms this year—a 24-percent jump from 2012, said Ernesto V. Tan, company vice president and CFO. Prospects for 2014 are even rosier with $1.5 to $2 billion in projected revenue.

Growth will come from maximizing the use of the companies’ ships and an overall expansion of the freight business as Philippine industries expand, Tan said. The Philippine economy has been expanding more than 7 percent for the past 4 quarters, most recently beating expectations in the April-June period with a 7.5-percent growth.

“Also, we may be commencing in October the Asean RoRo (roll-on roll-off) connectivity route,” Tan said.

Asian Marine has 27 ships in its fleet, all of which can serve long-haul, rough-sea routes similar to those in the Black Sea and other parts of Northern Europe.

The Asean integration calls for wider connectivity in transportation. Asean Secretary General Le Luong Minh said during a recent visit to Manila that companies should study how to capitalize on the single market and production base to be created by 2015.

“One of the contributions of the Philippines to Asean connectivity is the RoRo,” Tan said. “And the one providing the vessels is no less than Asian Marine Transport Corp.”

The first leg is the Philippines-Indonesia route, for which Asian Marine has set a maiden voyage sometime in October. The Philippine ports of call to be covered are Davao and General Santos City, which will be connected to Bitung City and Manado City in Indonesia.

The second leg is the Philippines-China-Vietnam route, which may be launched in 2015. The Philippine port is Batangas City, which will be connected to Humen town in China, and Danang City in Vietnam.

Asian Marine will initially designate one vessel each for the Philippines-Indonesia and Philippines-China-Vietnam routes.