Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia, who was on hand to witness the unloading, said the event only manifested the growing number of port users already transporting their goods through the Port of Subic after it became an extension facility of the Port of Manila.
“This only shows that our efforts to make Subic the most competitive port in Luzon are all reaching fruition,” Garcia said, as he congratulated officials of the Subic Bay International Container Terminal (SBITC), which operates the NCT2.
Garcia said that in August this year, the Port of Subic already recorded 83,000 containers, a number that was almost double the 43,000 recorded for the same period last year.
“As we reached the 100,000-mark this month, we again reached another milestone,” he added.
Garcia said that that SBMA has been successful so far in marketing Subic as the only port in Luzon that has a one-stop shop.
SBMA’s hosting of two maritime summits, the formation of a Maritime Technical Group, and the agency’s aggressive maritime business marketing program “certainly helped a lot in this undertaking,” he also said.
Garcia said the one-stop-shop facility inside Subic’s container terminal has been very well appreciated by brokers from Manila and Northern and Central Luzon because all the necessary documentation “stops” could be accomplished within the shop.
“If your papers are in order, you can finish processing in just 30 minutes or an hour,” he said.
SBITC general manager Roberto Locsin said the 100,000th container was unloaded from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, by Wan Hai Lines for delivery to United Auctioneers, Inc., a heavy equipment trader in the Subic Bay Freeport.
“We never selected it. It was luckily scheduled to unload,” Locsin said.
As this happened, Chairman Garcia also noted that the SBMA is expanding its seaport, and “is pushing very hard to increase cargo volume here to decongest Manila Port.”
The SBMA official also noted that Subic is the only port in the western seaboard that still has the capacity to accommodate more containers, as the Batangas port is already 100% full.
“Before you could unload in Batangas or even in Manila, you’d be forced to wait for three to four days. In Subic, you can enter anytime, unload anytime and process your cargo anytime” he said. “We now have seven shipping lines coming to Subic on a regular basis,” he added.
Subic, as well as Batangas, became an extension port because of congestion in Manila.
Subic now has seven shipping lines unloading and taking in cargo on a regular basis after President Aquino signed Executive Order 172 that designated Subic as an alternative port to Manila. (RAV/MPD-SBMA)
PHOTO:
SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia (middle, left) receives from SBITC general manager Roberto Locsin a copy of documents marking the arrival of the 100,000th TEU at the New Container Terminal 2 in Subic Bay Freeport. (AMD/MPD-SBMA)
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