- The 2,475-TEU MSC Sotiria III made its maiden call on Subic on Feb. 23 as part of Mediterranean Shipping Company’s expanded Seahorse Service loop in Southeast Asia
- Wan Hai Lines recently resumed its Subic Express Service with calls on Shekou, Subic, Batangas, Manila, Cebu, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and Hong Kong
- SBMA expects to generate import revenues of $1.77 billion and export revenues of $1.42 billion in 2022
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) expects stronger regional seaborne trade this year following the Feb 23 maiden call in Subic of Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) MSC Sotiria III, as well as resumption of a service by Taiwanese shipping line Wan Hai.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the weekly Subic port calls of MSC, the world’s largest shipping company in terms of capacity, will further boost trade in Subic. SBMA last year generated revenues of $1.58 billion for imports and $1.03 billion for exports.
“My dream for the Subic Bay Freeport is for it to be among the top 50 biggest ports like Shanghai or Singapore. The fact that MSC, which is now the world’s largest container shipping line, chose Subic to be in its trade route not only gives Subic access to the world and vice versa, but also brings us one more step closer to that goal,” Eisma said in a statement.
This year, she said SBMA aims to generate an import value of $1.77 billion and export value of $1.42 billion, as the global economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic begin easing.
The MSC Sotiria III call is part of the expanded Seahorse Service loop in Southeast Asia. The 2,475-TEU container ship arrived at Subic’s New Container Terminal after calling the Port of Manila on Feb. 21.
READ: MSC direct call links Subic port to intra-Asian services, global network
The weekly service uses three container ships with port rotating Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore, Manila, Subic, Kaohsiung, Vung Tau then back to Tanjung Pelepas. Singapore and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia both serve as major transshipment hubs for MSC and connect the rest of the Asian trade loop to Western and European trade services.
MSC general manager Pankaj Patki, SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao, Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. CEO Justin C. Tolentino, and representatives of various shipping and logistics agencies and clients welcomed the vessel.
“MSC feels that there is a huge potential for growth, and we would like to cater to customers in this region who currently have had to travel all the way to Manila to load their cargoes,” Patki said, adding that more ship calls in Subic will be established in the near future.
SBMA’s Yambao pointed out MSC is the 25th shipping line to service the port of Subic. “This is an important milestone for Subic Bay and the shipping industry in general because it is an opportunity for the Freeport to be known globally in terms of logistics capability,” he said.
Yambao added MSC is expected to service the needs of business locators not only in Subic, but also in Clark, Bataan and the rest of the economic zones in north Luzon.
MSC’s arrival follows the return of a service operated by Wan Hai Lines, a Taiwanese company which previously cancelled its call in Subic due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It recently reopened its Subic Express Service (SES) that calls Shekou, Subic, Batangas, Manila, Cebu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hong Kong.
The port of Subic has a container cargo capacity to 600,000 TEUs and caters to different types of cargo like grain, dry bulk, and oil and petroleum.
READ: 11.7% growth in Subic container traffic boosts SBMA port revenues
