The Subic Super Shuttle (S3) service, seen as an alternative transport mode for shippers hampered by the Manila truck ban, will have its initial run on August 8 from the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), arriving August 9 at Subic Bay New Container Terminal 1 (NCT1).
“The concept of the Subic Super Shuttle Service is to provide an immediate alternative in response to the current problems being experienced by everyone at the Manila ports,” Bennedict Navalta, general manager of the PTC Agency and Transport, Inc. (PTCAT), told PortCalls in a text message.
PTCAT is the agent of S3’s owner, Subic Super Shuttle Marine Services, Inc.
Navalta described the upcoming service as “viable, cost efficient and (an) immediate solution” to issues triggered by the Manila truck ban.
The vessel used for the service can ship 138 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) between MICT and Subic Bay, and will act as a common feeder for shipping lines serving locators and shippers in and around Northern Luzon.
Navalta said S3 is also looking to alleviate the backlog of empties in container depots within Metro Manila by assisting with their repositioning.
“Carriers can choose to direct empty returns to Subic, utilizing the S3, and then connect the empties to their respective feeders out of Manila,” Navalta said. “The empty return into MICT is with certainty versus the hit-or-miss arrangements with the depots.”
Rates for the service are P20,000 per 20-footer laden and P25,000 per 40-footer laden. For empty boxes, rates are P14,000 per 20-footer and P17,500 per 40-footer.
Manila to Subic calls are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays, with the estimated time of arrival in Manila at 12 pm, while the Subic to Manila service is offered Wednesdays and Saturdays with ETA at Subic at 10 am.
S3 will utilize West Ocean 3, with a gross tonnage of 2,749 tons, for all trips.
Bookings can be made in either of two ways: via direct carrier/foreign shipping line with the line responsible for all documentary requirements when transhipping import containers from MICT to Subic. Under this arrangement, regular cargo releasing charges will apply in Subic instead of Manila.
The second booking option is to treat the shipment as a cleared import container/domestic move, which entails that import containers are discharged at the MICT and customs cleared in Manila.
For direct carriers from Manila going to Subic with laden containers, consignees need the approved transshipment permit, while for direct shippers/exporters with laden boxes leaving Subic for Manila, the approved export declaration is required.
For empty containers to be repositioned by shipping lines, the special permit to load has to be produced.
S3 is also seen to attract direct callers to Subic port.
“Since we cannot get (liner) connections directly from Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, the Subic Super Shuttle will get cargoes from Manila and bring them to Subic,” Subic Bay International Terminal Corp general manager Reimond Silvestre told PortCalls in an earlier interview. SBITC operates NCT1.
“The Subic Super Shuttle is just a catalyst so that feeder vessels calling Manila will look at the Subic port and see that they can do a direct call to Subic instead of discharging their cargoes in Manila,” he said.
He added that as a catalyst service, the project may run for two years at most. By then, shipping lines and shippers may have established enough volume to and from Subic to justify the introduction of more direct international lines to the freeport.
“The cargo is there. We’re just waiting for everybody in Northern Luzon to understand that they can use the Port of Subic,” Silvestre said.
To date, only three international carriers—NYK, APL, and Swire Shipping—make direct calls to Subic. – Roumina Pablo
