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The Philippine Ports Authority officially handed over the management and operation of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex to Visayas Container Terminal on May 6
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VCT will operate and manage the port for 25 years
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VCT mother company International Container Terminal Services, Inc received regulatory approvals to operate and develop ICPC (renamed as VCT) in April
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) officially handed over the management and operation of the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex (ICPC) to Visayas Container Terminal (VCT) in a ceremony on May 6.
The event was attended by officers of PPA, VCT and mother company International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), together with stakeholders from Iloilo industries and representatives from shipping line SITC.
The handover signifies a new chapter for the ICPC, which VCT will continue to develop and improve throughout the company’s 25-year concession, ICTSI said in a statement.
ICTSI received in April regulatory approvals to operate and develop ICPC (renamed as VCT) for 25 years following a review by the PPA and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.
READ: ICTSI gets green light to operate Iloilo port
PPA on January 29 issued the notice of award to ICTSI, the sole bidder for the project, with a proposed concession fee of P750 million for the sixth to 10th year of the concession period, excluding taxes.
READ: ICTSI awarded 25-year contract for Iloilo port
ICTSI said it will focus on improving terminal productivity and service quality by investing in the development and rehabilitation of the terminal infrastructure and the deployment of cargo-handling equipment.
ICTSI expects to complete terminal upgrades at the VCT in less than two months.
Since ICTSI began operating the facility on April 1, VCT has already serviced some 40 vessels, including container ships, roll-on/roll-off vessels, and bulk carriers, according to ICTSI.
The seaport handles a current volume of 100,000 twenty-foot equivalent units and two million metric tons of non-containerized cargo annually. It features 627 meters of operational quay length and 20 hectares of land dedicated to container and general cargo storage, warehousing, and other cargo-handling activities.
Under the contract, VCT operations will exclusively serve foreign vessels and cargoes. For the first five years, domestic vessels and cargoes are permitted until the Fort San Pedro port development turnover.
Fort San Pedro will serve as the designated domestic terminal.
VCT is the first port bid out under Tier 1 of PPA’s port terminal management regulatory framework, which aims to enhance port services by involving the private sector.
