Subic Shuttle Service to start July 8

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SubicThe Subic Shuttle Service will tentatively start on July 8, giving shippers to Northern Luzon an alternative way to ship cargoes from Manila.

The service to be operated by the Philippine Transmarine Carriers will serve as a common feeder for shipping lines serving locators and shippers in and around Northern Luzon.

The twice-a-week service will tentatively start on July 8at the Manila International Container Port and arrive in Subic on July 9. It will use a vessel with a capacity of 138 twenty equivalent units.

As of press time, the proposed schedule is as follows:

Arrival   Departure

Manila  Tue 1200              Tue 2300

Subic     Wed 1000            Thu 2300

Manila  Fri 1200Fri 2300

Subic     Sat 1000               Sun 2300

“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. (SBITC) general manager Reimond Silvestre told PortCalls in an earlier interview.

“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, noting that as a catalyst service it may run for two years at the longest.

By then, shipping lines and shippers would have established the volume coming in and out of the area, possibly justifying the introduction of additional direct international liner services to and from Subic.

“The cargo is there. We’re just waiting for everybody in Northern Luzon to understand that they can use the Port of Subic,” he said.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Roberto Garcia welcomed the project, saying it will help address difficulties that shipping lines and truckers face due to the Manila truck ban.

Garcia said the expected increase in ship calls at the Subic Port will generate additional income for the Freeport.

“The common complaint of shippers in Manila is that we have very few ship calls here. But once the feeder service is established, eventually there will be an increase in container volume, thus attracting major shipping lines to make their calls here,” Garcia noted.

To date there are only three international carriers directly calling Subic on a regular basis – NYK, APL, and Swire Shipping.

With this new development, Garcia said SBMA is looking at doubling the current volume of cargo unloaded at Subic’s container terminal.

Volume at the Subic Port increased 21% this year.

“Out of the 2.8 million containers that are shipped through the port of Manila every year, 450,000 of these go to Central Luzon. So, it is definitely cheaper and more convenient if they ship and deliver from here,” he said.

Garcia said the SBMA would coordinate closely with Manila North Tollways Corp. regarding the maintenance of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway in order to accommodate trucks that will be coming in and out of Subic.

A big launch is being prepared by SBMA in Subic to welcome the service on July 9 to be attended by logistics and transport industry executives. – Roumina Pablo

Photo from www.ictsi.com