-
The expansion of Batangas port’s passenger terminal building (PTB) will be fully completed by the third quarter of 2023
-
Phase 2B of the project will further increase capacity to 6,000 passengers
-
Eusebio Tanco, president of Batangas port operator Asian Terminals Inc, said once done the PTB will make Batangas port the biggest and busiest hub in the country
-
ATI is retrofitting its cruise terminal in Manila
Expansion of the Batangas port passenger terminal building (PTB) will be fully completed by the third quarter of 2023, according to an official of port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI).
“We are very excited to unveil the full modernized Batangas passenger terminal by the third quarter of the year,” ATI president Eusebio Tanco said during the company’s recent annual stockholders’ meeting.
Once the expanded PTB is complete, Tanco said Batangas port will be “the biggest, busiest, and the best interisland maritime hub in the country.”
In a separate regulatory disclosure, ATI said part of this year’s P5.2 billion capital expenditure will support completion of the PTB expansion.
ATI in June 2022 inaugurated the newly-completed Phases 1 and 2A of its integrated PTB project.
RELATED READ: ATI inaugurates improved Batangas port’s passenger terminal building
Spanning 15,000 square meters, the upgraded PTB can now serve around 3,500 passengers at any given time. Phase 2B of the project will further increase capacity to 6,000 passengers at any given time and will make it the biggest passenger terminal building nationwide.
Batangas is one of the country’s busiest passenger ports, especially during holidays as it directly connects mainland Luzon to famous island destinations such as Mindoro, Romblon, Masbate, Iloilo, Boracay, and Palawan, and other Visayas and Mindanao locations through fast-crafts and domestic roll-on/roll-off vessels calling the port.
On cruise tourism, Tanco said ATI remains focused in its Manila port, wherein it is currently retrofitting its cruise terminal. After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ATI’s Manila South Harbor Eva Macapagal Cruise Terminal early this year officially resumed cruise operations as it welcomed MV Seabourn Encore in February with its over 500 foreign passenger guests.
ATI chairman Glen Hilton, during the same stockholders’ meeting, said ATI’s capital investment program for 2023 “will remain in high gear.”
READ: ATI earmarks P5.2B capex for 2023
Hilton said the planned P5.2-billion investment will support the creation of additional berth and yard facilities, and deployment of new cranes and eco-friendly equipment. He noted this is in line with ATI’s long-term commitments with the ports authority.
Last year, Hilton said ATI “delivered yet another year of solid results.” Revenues grew 22% year-on-year to P13.62 billion in 2022, the highest in the port operator’s history. Net income reached P3.03 billion in 2022, 35% higher than the P2.24 billion earned in 2021.
ATI’s container ports in Manila and Batangas handled a consolidated 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units, 4.5% higher than 2021’s volumes. In the non-containerized segment, Batangas port’s car carrier terminal set a new operations milestone as it ended the year handling over 230,000 completely-built car units (CBUs), 73% higher than 2021 and eclipsing its previous record of 201,000 CBUs back in 2016.
The Batangas PTB also facilitated over 2.2 million outbound passengers and nearly 360,000 domestic roll-on/roll-off vehicles.
 will be fully completed by the third quarter of 2023){kind=link}