THE Philippines needs to improve its seaport infrastructure to fully participate in the ever-growing international trade, according to an American ocean carrier’s top executive.
“Today, Manila and other Philippine ports cannot take direct service. So we offer a very good transshipment solution using China [and] using Singapore as berths,” APL CEO Nicolas Sartini told reporters in a press briefing during their 100th anniversary celebration on Friday.
“But, of course, if the country wants to continue to grow [or] wants to be part of the global trade network, of course, what is needed is to have a port [that is] able to handle larger vessels,” he said.
At the moment, the country can only provide transshipment of goods because most of the seaports are not big enough to accommodate bigger containers.
In Manila, for instance, APL can operate a vessel that can carry 6,000 containers, with a maximum size of 12 meters each.
This is four times smaller than the nine vessels capacitated to carry 22,000 containers that the CMA CGM Group—its mother company—ordered last week.
“The vessel couldn’t enter the port and that’s something extremely important for development,” Sartini noted. “Obviously, if you have the ability to bring larger vessels, then it is opening many [growth opportunities].”
To help address the issue, APL seeks to engage with the Department of Transportation and maritime authorities to improve infrastructure in the country.
“Again, infrastructure is key to development, and what we see today is that when you have a good infrastructure, then, trade is growing,” the CEO said.
He cited, for instance, Indonesia’s initiative to improve the port in Jakarta that paved the way for direct service from such capital city to the United States and Europe.
Contrary to transferring goods from one ship to another to reach its final destination, offering direct service lessens the cost of transporting them.
Unlike transshipment, trade volumes of the markets, likewise, grow rapidly with direct service offerings from shipping companies as they make exporting and importing activities a lot easier.
“Immediately, we saw the volumes of cargo grow,” Sartini said of the outcome of the enhanced Jakarta seaport. “So [infrastructure] is a very important part.”
APL currently connects the Philippines with key trade partners, such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, North America, Europe and Singapore, among others, through eight Intra-Asia services that offer competitive transit times and relay shipments to destinations like the Middle East, Europe, the Mediterranean and North America via transshipment hubs across Asia.
Among these offerings is the China Southeast Asia Service 5 (CS5), which allows direct shipments between North and Central China and Manila. Other services that are also designed to facilitate the Philippines’s rapid trade growth with China and Southeast Asia include the China Southeast Asia Service 3 (CS3), China Southeast Asia 6 (CS6), Japan Taiwan Service 6 (JT6) and the South Philippines Express (SPX).
Following the launching of their shipment route between the Philippines and India two weeks ago, the CEO revealed their plan to introduce new routes and services in the region, including Philippines to Vietnam, and Philippines to Thailand.
“We are connecting the Philippines with every single market in Intra-Asia. We have 150 million containers moving in the world. One out of six of them is in Intra-Asia,” he said.
APL is currently supported by six local offices nationwide. The Philippines is pivotal to the carrier’s global shipping operations since it is here where the Pricing Administration Center (PAC) is located, handling all tariff applications and regulatory compliance for its global business.
As a critical backbone to its shipping operations, the company will further develop this local hub as it seeks further growth in the Philippines and globally.
“We want to grow with the market, and grow a little bit faster than the market. So, maybe, I see probably 10 percent [to] 15 percent growth every year will be a good target because once again the Philippines is a growing market,” the CEO bared, noting their cargo capacity target of 200,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) annually in the country.
“APL will continually offer the best shipping services and solutions that will take our shippers’ cargo to places. To contribute to advancement of the Philippines’ container shipping industry, APL will further engage key stakeholders including the transportation and port authorities of the country,” he said.