The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has announced that bid documents for the operation and management of the New Container Terminal-2 (NCT-2), the second phase of the multi-million dollar Subic port project, are now available to interested parties.
Capt. Perfecto Pascual, general manager of the SBMA Seaport Department, said on Tuesday that bid documents may be obtained from the Project Management Office (PMO) upon payment of a non-refundable amount of P100,000 or $2,500..
The PMO, which is located at Bldg. 29, Waterfront Road Extension, SRF Compound, Subic Bay Freeport, is open Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We have started selling out bid documents today after completing the requirements of publishing notices in January,” Pascual said on Tuesday.
He added that bidders are expected to submit their proposals on or before 2 p.m. of April 14, after which the bids will be evaluated by the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) for Port Commercialization.
“If we have a successful bidding, then we intend to finish with the awarding sometime in July,” Pascual said.
According to the bid invitation sent out by the SBAC, the contract will be for the operation, management and maintenance of the NCT-2 as a transshipment hub.
The NCT-2, which is located at the Cubi Point in Subic, has a 14-hectare newly-constructed container yard, a 280-meter long newly constructed wharf, two units of 53-ton capacity quay gantry cranes, as well as other buildings, equipment and utilities.
Pascual said the facility, which has a capacity of 300,000-TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), can accommodate big container ships, including Panamax vessels.
The SBMA bid invitation has set minimum requirements to determine the eligibility of interested bidders.
Under technical qualifications, the SBMA said that the bidder must be an operator of an international container shipping line, or a consortium of operators; and that the bidder handles at least 2 million TEUs per year, or has an operating capacity of 100,000 TEUs, which are combined in case of a consortium.
The bidder or consortium of bidders must also have a net worth of at least US$50 million, which are again combined in case of a bidding consortium.
Under the financial requirements, the SBMA said, among others, that each bidder or joint venture or consortium “must be able to submit evidence of the availability of, or the ability to raise the amount needed for the operation and maintenance of NCT-2 in the amount of at least US50 million.”
Legal qualifications, meanwhile, require each bidder to submit proof of legal eligibility and competence, as well as proof of payment of current taxes, among others.
Moreover, in case of a foreign bidder, the SBMA set as a condition for award that the equity participation of a foreigner “shall not exceed 40 percent of the total equity of the winning operator.”
Pascual said the SBMA is encouraging foreign shipping lines to participate in the bidding because it is positioning the NCT-2 as a transshipment hub.
“A lot would benefit if NCT-2 becomes a transshipment hub,” Pascual said. “The government would earn more revenue, commerce and trade in Central Luzon would be enhanced, and more jobs would be created.”
He said that the 300,000-TEU NCT-1, which is operated by the Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), is now being utilized mainly for shipping export and import requirements of business locators in Subic and Clark free ports, as well as other port users in the Luzon area. (SBMA Corporate Communications)
PHOTO: Subic’s New Container Terminal-2
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