Dennis Uy submits bid for Davao port rehab

Listed Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy is offering to rehabilitate and operate Davao’s Sasa Port, among the previous administration’s public-private partnership projects that were ultimately discontinued by President Duterte.

Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy, president and CEO of Chelsea Holdings, told reporters that the company submitted an unsolicited proposal for the Davao Sasa port.

Damuy said the company envisioned developing the port over several phases. He said Chelsea Holdings was prepared to spend P16 billion and was seeking a 25 year concession.

He explained that Davao Sasa was lacking in facilities and its annual capacity of 600,000 twenty-foot equiva lent unit (TEUs) has “dwindled now to less than half of that.”

“We want to rehabilitate Davao Sasa and regain the [lost] volume,” Damuy said.

He said Chelsea Holdings was planning to further increase volume to around two million TEUs a year. He said this would be based on certain volume milestones.

The company has long eyed an investment in port operations. It is also expanding its existing fleet.

Chelsea Holdings, which owns a minority stake in logistics company 2GO Group Inc., said in a stock exchange filing on Monday that it planned to spend around $100 million to acquire brand new roll on/roll off vessels over the next two years.

On Friday, it inaugurated the country’s biggest vessel, M/T Chelsea Providence, and a brand-new Ro-Ro passenger ship, M/V Salve Regina, that will ply the Batangas-Caticlan route.