Davao City-General Santos-Bitung sea lane slated for launch in April

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A new, shorter sea route between the Philippines and Indonesia will open up in late April, the project expected to enhance connectivity between the two nations and boost international trade.

Once accessible, the new Davao City-General Santos-Bitung shipping route will cut the travel time of goods to only three days from the current three to five weeks via the Manila-Bitung route.

The new route is not only going to be faster, it is also cheaper, with estimated cost savings of about US$1,500 (P75,000) per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU).

“Having a shipping route such as this is crucial for any maritime region. Sea linkage will strengthen our economies and our partnerships in other areas of development. And it will also improve the quality of life of our people because local businessmen and traders will directly benefit from this,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said in a statement.

The formal opening of the shipping route as well as the maiden voyage will be held in Davao on April 28.

Domestic shipping operator Asian Marine Transport Corporation will initially provide a weekly shipping schedule with vessel capacity of 100 TEUs, while other vessel operators are foreseen to show interest in plying the route amid expectations of demand growth, said the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

Mindanao products such as fresh fruits, poultry, meat, coffee blends, fishing supplies, and synthetics are among goods exported to Indonesia. On the other hand, Bitung, a city on the northern coast of Sulawesi known for its rich marine life, imports coconut, copra, corn, high-value crops, soya products, coffee beans, sugar, cement, and charcoal from the Philippines.

DOTr said the opening of a shorter sea linkage is expected to strengthen trade relations between the Philippines and Indonesia, stimulate foreign investments and tourism, and contribute to the progress of the Mindanao region.

A task force comprised of representatives from the DOTr, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, and other concerned agencies has been formed to ensure the smooth delivery of the project.

The task force will be going to Bitung to check on port readiness and other compliance concerns, and promote the use of the lane among private companies.

The Davao-GenSan-Bitung route is one of three priority routes to be identified in a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) feasibility study on the proposed establishment of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations roll-on/roll-off (ASEAN RoRo) shipping network. The JICA study, adopted by the 25th ASEAN Maritime Transport Working Group Meeting in 2013, listed the Dumai-Malacca and the Belawan-Penang-Phuket slings as the two other priority passageways.

Establishing efficient and reliable shipping lanes including the ASEAN RoRo shipping network is one of the maritime initiatives of the roadmap for an integrated and competitive ASEAN maritime transport. It is also one of the maritime transport-related measures in the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, Brunei Action Plan 2011-2015, and Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan 2016-2025.

It is likewise a priority undertaking of the sub-region Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Vision 2025.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net