THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) yesterday
declared a failure of bidding for the North Harbor, saying
the process will only push through if there are at least two
eligible bidders.
Only Harbour Centre Port Terminals, Inc. (HCPTI) together
with joint venture partner Metro Pacific Investment Corp.
(MPIC) was pre qualified to bid for the port’s 25-year
management and operation contract.
Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) was declared ineligible after
submitting a special power of attorney instead of the required
waiver from legal suits.
“We should have competing bids to lower (shipping) rates
and we can’t have that now as ATI, the other potential
bidder, has been declared ineligible due to lack of requirements,”
PPA general manager Atty. Oscar Sevilla said after the PPA
Board meeting.
In the interest of fairness, the PPA chief said the HCPTI-MPIC
joint venture has been assured of a slot in the eligible bidders’
list when PPA resumes the bidding process later in the year.
Sevilla said the terms of reference for the North Harbor privatization
will be revised to require at least two bidders.
Special Bids and Awards Committee chair Leopoldo Bungubung
said he would reconvene the committee any day now to revise
the schedule of bidding.
The second invitation to bid will be sent out within the month,
he added.
Bungubung said he expects Magsaysay Maritime Corp, Pier 8
Arrastre and Stevedoring Services and Prudential Customs Brokerage
to again submit their bids.
“If we can restart the process immediately, then we
could still see a new North Harbor concessionaire by end of
the year,” he added.
To be auctioned off are the port’s container terminal,
general cargo terminal and passenger terminal complex, which
will be considered as one operational area.
MAGSAYSAY-owned Lorenzo Shipping Corp.’s
(LSC) recent application for Board of Investments registration
has been approved.
As a result, LSC will enjoy an income tax holiday for six
years; additional deduction from taxable income of 50% of
wages corresponding to the increment in the number of direct
labor in the year of availment against the previous year;
and tax credit equivalent to the national internal revenue
taxes and duties paid on raw materials and supplied as well
as semi-manufactured products used in producing its export
products for 10 years.
The company is also getting access to at least 70% of Customs
bonded warehouses for its production outputs and exemption
from payment of wharfage dues, any export tax or duty and
fee for 10 years.
In addition, the BOI registration exempts LSC from taxes and
duties on imported spare parts and consumable supplies as
well as imported capital equipment, spare parts and accessories
up to June 2011.
LSC’s modernization program has been put on hold due
to the unpredictable international market for second-hand
and brand-new vessels. However, last month LSC signed a memorandum
of agreement with Maltese company Black Tetra Shipping Ltd
for the purchase of a multi-purpose vessel for $8.3 million
that will be deployed towards the end of the year. The vessel
will eventually replace one of its older vessels.
LSC presently operates seven cargo vessels.
The company will also continue to purchase new containers
to replace old ones, and fabricate more hog vans or specialized
containers for livestock delivery, to further complement 60
redesigned hog vans introduced last year as part of its modernization
program.
Last year, LSC posted revenues of P1.337 billion, slightly
higher than the P1.334 billion registered in 2005 despite
lower vessel voyages and cargo volume.
Net income for 2006, however, nosedived to P39.7 million from
P103.8 million in 2005.
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) plans
to restart privatization of Batangas Port once new cargo-handling
equipment is in place by October.
In an interview, PPA general manager Atty. Oscar Sevilla explained
that the added cargo-handling muscle will boost the port’s
allure to potential bidders.
He added that those that have pre-qualified prior to the suspension
of the bidding process will still have the same status once
privatization process resumes.
“By October, we expect the delivery and installation
of new cranes and other cargo-handling equipment from China
which we think will lure more investors to take a second look
at the port,” Sevilla said.
In June, the PPA delayed bidding for Batangas Port pending
completion of some provisions vital to the process.
At least two firms, International Container Terminal Services,
Inc. and Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI), have been declared eligible
to bid for the management and operation of Batangas port’s
international terminal.
PPA wants at least seven firms to join the bidding.
According to the amended terms of reference for the privatization,
PPA will require information on the nationality of shareholders
who own more than 5% of the firm; and proof of capability
through the submission of international magazines or port
authority certification as well as a list of equipment and
gears deployed in all terminals.
The PPA earlier admitted having difficulty fine tuning the
privatization’s terms of reference with government having
no historical figures to base its provisions on. Cargo volume
at Batangas terminal has been very little due to the lack
of equipment.
Phase II of Batangas Port, which was funded by a Japan Bank
for International Cooperation loan, consists of dredging and
reclamation, construction of two foreign container cargo berths,
and reconstruction of the general cargo berth in Phase 1 with
provision for stacking yard, container freight station, terminal
building, utilities, access road, and other support facilities.
Phase I, mainly geared for domestic operations, began in 1992
and was comple-ted in 1997. Costing about P1.21 billion, it
included ferry, roll-on roll-off, and general cargo services.
ATI holds the contract for Phase I.
KEPPEL Philippines Marine Inc. (KPMI) sees
more activity at its Subic shipyard following government moves
to position the freeport as a shipbuilding, ship repair and
logistics hub.
Officials of Subic Shipyard and Engineering (SSE), an associate
company of KPMI, has laid out plans for a shipyard in Cabangaan
Point, Cawag which has a 350,000 dwt capacity graving dock
and three quays for berthing and afloat repair.
Keppel sees encouraging prospects for the yard and has braced
itself for busy years ahead.
KPMI said Hanjin Heavy Industries, the Korean shipbuilding
giant which recently located in Subic, complements its ship
repair and conversion projects. Hanjin, it said, caters to
large vessel clients while Keppel has its own niche. “Hopefully,
they will give to us their ship repair needs,” KPMI
said.
The company sees as a good business opportunity the 2008 deadline
to convert local single-hull vessels to double-hull vessels
but stressed that the Maritime Industry Authority should be
strict in implementing the requirement.
SSE’s Subic shipyard is expanding its offshore rig fabrication
that marked its debut last year. SSE has clinched two contracts
for the construction of mid pontoon sections of semi-submersible
oil rigs for GlobalSante Fe and Maersk Contractors which generated
P83 million in sales. The two vessels were scheduled for delivery
this year.
The shipyard will also be involved in life extension and or
conversion of floating storage and offloading (FSO) projects
and repair of vessels up to 350,000 dwt.
SSE has already secured contracts beyond the first quarter
of 2007 for the drydocking and repair of bulk carriers, container
vessels and a car and truck carrier. It has also been working
closely with clients in the offshore market to secure more
construction projects of semi-submersible rigs in the coming
years.
SSE repaired 38 vessels in 2006, all foreign-flagged, down
from 50 ships in 2005. Still, 2006 revenues grew due to higher
value repair projects.
SSE generated P1.093 billion sales last year, up 10% from
P998 million in the previous year.
Ship repair activities generated P999 million while offshore
fabrication projects contributed P83 million.
The Subic shipyard has added a covered block assembly facility
with mobile sheds, a complete panel line shop, new lifting
equipment and barracks in light of its entry into the growing
offshore industry.
The ISO-certified yard will also continue to seek out high
value opportunities in ship repair and conversion.
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) recently
signed the P2-billion bond flotation agreement with its joint
issue manager and lead joint lead underwriter, the Development
Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and First Metro Investment Corp.
(FMIC).
The bond, which carries a 7% interest rate, with a maturity
of seven years, was the first capital transaction of PPA for
the year.
Present during the signing ceremony were Finance secretary
Margarito Teves, Treasurer Roberto Tan, PPA general manager
Oscar Sevilla, DBP president and CEO Rey David and Roberto
Juanchito Dispo, executive vice president of FMIC.
The Department of Finance extended the guarantee for the first
time for the seven year fixed rate corporate note, which was
signed by Sec. Teves.
Dispo claimed the guarantee was not absolute and that it would
be for “certain events that would come up”.
“This corporate note will be used for the development,
modernization and expansion of ports all over the country
and in line with the mid-term plans of the President. We will
fast track the port projects to stimulate the economy,”
Sevilla said.
The proceeds of the P2-billion bonds will be used for the
modernization of the six priority ports namely the newly-constructed
wharf at Cagayan de Oro, Sasa Wharf port expansion, Iloilo
Container Port Complex, wharf in Ozamiz Oriental and phase
II of the wharf expansion at the Zamboanga and the General
Santos City port expansion.
Rule on truck impounding stays, says
Customs chief
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) shot down proposals
of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines
(CTAP) to immediately release trucks being investigated for
carrying smuggled or misdeclared items.
Trucks, together with the questionable cargo, are impounded
at BOC compounds while an investigation is ongoing.
“The immediate release of trucks apprehended for allegedly
carrying smuggled goods is not feasible. It’s a risk
truckers have to take as trucks could be part and parcel of
the illegal activity and we have to make sure that the operator
had no hand in the activity,” Customs commissioner Napoleon
Morales told PortCalls.
CTAP is asking the BOC to issue an order releasing all impounded
cargo trucks under its custody and to order its officials
to refrain from impounding trucks unless there is concrete
proof that the driver or owner conspired to violate provisions
of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. It also
wants a fixed holding period for trucks.
“While admittedly, misdeclaration of imported goods
is a violation of the TCCP, the violator is the importer of
the goods and not the cargo truck. The situation may be otherwise
if, through concrete proof, the cargo driver or trucker is
a party to said misdeclaration, in which case the trucker
or driver, along with the importer may be prosecuted for violating
the TCCP,” CTAP president Col Rodolfo De Ocampo earlier
told PortCalls.
. International Container Terminal Services,
Inc. (ICTSI) recently installed new twin lift spreaders for
three quay cranes (QC) at its flagship, Manila International
Container Terminal (MICT), marking another milestone in Philippine
port operations. ICTSI acquired three units of Bromma STR
40 twin lifts spreaders, each composed of two regular twin
lifts and one separating twin lift. Each spreader has a lifting
capacity of 40.6 tons, and can handle two 20 footer or one
40 footer in one lifting. The twin lift spreaders are the
first of its kind to be installed in the country. With the
acquisition of the new twin lifts, the MICT is expected to
further improve productivity and serve clients better. Photo
shows one new Bromma twin-lift spreader already in use at
the MICT, the Philippines’ leading international trading
gateway. ICTSI is a leading developer in international container
terminal operations with an experience record that spans in
six continents.
