SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Port of Subic is now ready to provide the best solution in terms of ease and cost of doing shipping and related maritime businesses, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator and CEO Wilma T. Eisma said.
Speaking during the recent Northern Luzon Investors’ Conference at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Eisma said the Subic Bay Freeport is angling to be the port of choice for shippers and port users in Northern and Central Luzon with its lower rates, faster turnaround time and 15 available piers and wharves.
“Along with its strategic location, the country’s premier free port provides 10 built-in advantages that could spell the difference for players in the shipping business,” Eisma told business leaders and prospective investors in the region during the conference.
She cited Subic’s 10 plus factors as faster turnaround time, absence of red tape, short processing time, absence of congestion, absence of traffic, immediate docking upon vessel arrival, no truck ban, lower port tariff, higher efficiency and ISO quality service.
“To start with, the Subic Freeport has a total of 15 piers and wharves that can support the transshipment of a wide range of cargoes,” she said.
The two wharves in Subic’s former Ship Repair Facility are ideal for passenger ships, as well as military vessels, because they are located near the central business district, while the two other piers further inside the facility would be ideal for repair and boat services, she added.
The two jetties at the former Naval Supply Depot are perfect for break-bulk cargoes and shipments bound for Subic’s industrial parks and manufacturing centers in Central and Northern Luzon, while the three docks at the Boton Logistics Center would best be suited for petroleum products.
Those at Cubi Point, meanwhile, could accommodate containerized cargo, as well as grains and fertilizer, while the single landings at Nabasan, Camayan and Grande could be used for specialized purposes, including tourism.
As of now, Eisma said, Subic is already the port of choice for Hanjin, the fourth-largest shipbuilder in the world; China’s Jovo Group, which operates the country’s first ship-to-ship transfer of liquefied petroleum gas; as well as Subic Bay International Terminal Corp., an affiliate of the International Container Terminal Services Inc., one of the five major maritime terminal operators in the world.
“We have also attracted nine container shipping lines that now connect Subic Bay to major commercial centers in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia, and this is because we have some of the lowest rates in stevedoring and arrastre, as well as export, import and transshipment fees,” she added.
As an example, she said Subic’s stevedoring charges for a loaded 40-footer container is only $94.33, while that for Manila goes for $137.87, excluding value-added tax (VAT), or a difference of $43.54, or 31.58 percent.
Subic’s arrastre rates for the import of a 40-footer container is just P4,787.05, while that for Manila is pegged at P9,235.00, excluding VAT, or a difference of P4,447.95 (48.16 percent).
Eisma also said as a center for maritime operations, Subic offers key port services, like cargo handling, pilot and tugboat services, ship handling, bunkering and tendering, ship agents, onboard repair, cargo survey, underwater survey, and vessel lay-up and line handling.
It also provides facilities for fuel storage and handling, grains storage, maritime training, ship repair, warehousing and vessel lay-up.
To top it all, Eisma said the Port of Subic is uniquely accessible by sea, land and air, thereby making it ideal for manufacturers and export producers, as well as importers in Luzon.