Subic port. FILE PHOTO
The port operations of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) in Subic Bay Freeport now match the productivity of flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), suggesting the emergence of this freeport as a key international gateway.
ICTSI reported on Monday that two Panamax quay cranes at Subic Bay freeport’s New Container Terminal (NCT) 1 recently handled close to 400 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs), with each crane averaging 40 and 33 moves per hour, respectively.
The productivity levels were achieved during the inaugural port call of Evergreen Marine Corp.’s 1,440-TEU boxship Cape Fulmar. This marked the debut of Evergreen’s South Korea-Taiwan-Philippines service, a new route to facilitate improving regional trade between the three economies.
The service plies the ports of Incheon and Kwang Yang, South Korea; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; and Batangas, Manila and Subic Bay, Philippines. Aside from Cape Fulmar, 1,440-TEU boxship Cape Faro is also chartered to the weekly service.
“It was a great effort and a big win for ICTSI’s Subic operations. This goes to show that Subic is at par with the productivity levels in MICT. We are continuously working on improving our services to attract more shipping lines, and for northern and central Luzon businesses to use the container terminals in Subic,” said Roberto Locsin, Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) president.
“As a national port operator, ICTSI ensures that each Philippine marine terminal under its helm remains competitive. Subic, in particular, was developed not only for the industrial locators of the Freeport but for the local markets in Luzon north of Metro Manila,” Locsin said.
MICT primarily serves the Metro Manila market and its adjacent markets, where most of the economic activities of the country happen being the country’s capital.
“Metro Manila as a market will continue to grow,” Locsin said. “But, as the northern and central Luzon countryside develops driven by industrial centers like Subic, Clark, Bataan and Tarlac also continuing to grow, the Subic Bay Freeport is that gateway ready to link its products to global markets. We have the equipment and facilities. We carry ICTSI’s brand of service and efficiency,” he added.
ICTSI has set up shop in Subic in anticipation of growing local markets north of Metro Manila. In 2007, under the Subic Port Development Plan, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority awarded SBITC the concession for NCT 1. In 2011, under the plan’s second phase, another ICTSI subsidiary, ICTSI Subic Inc., was awarded the concession to operate NCT 2.
Increasing volumes in Subic enabled ICTSI to streamline and consolidate the operations of NCT 1 and 2. The merged operation has been serving the growing markets of the region, alongside the continued support to facilitate the “box” or container market of Metro Manila.