Subic emerging as key international gateway, says ICTSI

The port operations of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) in Subic Bay Freeport now match the productivity of its flagship Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), indicating 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 among 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.

“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.

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,” he added. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA