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SUBIC
BAY FREEPORT—South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin has
launched the first ship ever to be built in its
$1.6-billion shipyard here, buoying hopes among
authorities here that Subic would soon be on its way to
becoming a major industry player in the region.
The
ship, a 4,300-TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) bulk
carrier reportedly with a market value of $60 million,
was launched early this month and is now undergoing
outfitting and sea trials, said Subic Bay Metropolitan
Authority (SBMA) chairman Feliciano Salonga.
The
carrier, temporarily designated by Hanjin as PN-001, is
scheduled for christening by President Arroyo in a
formal naming ceremony in May, Salonga said.
Argolikos ,
the first ship ever to be built at the Subic Bay
Freeport, is undergoing outfitting and sea trials at
Hanjin’s Redondo Peninsula shipyard.
--Henry Empeño
However,
the ship now bears on its bow the name Argolikos, which
is a small gulf off the east coast of
Greece
that opens into the Aegean Sea.
The word
“Dioryx” is also inscribed amidships, referring to the
Greek firm Dioryx Maritime Corp. that Salonga said has
placed orders for at least six vessels to be built by
Hanjin.
The
launching of the first Subic-built bulk carrier came
less than two years after Hanjin Heavy Industries
Corp.-Philippines (HHIC-Phils.) broke ground for its
shipyard project at Subic’s Redondo Peninsula and about
14 months after it cut the first steel for shipbuilding.
Salonga
described this as a “remarkable achievement,”
considering that most other shipbuilders would have
taken at least 18 months after cutting steel to launch a
ship of the same size.
PN-001
or Argolikos is designed for a maximum speed of 24.5
knots, or more than 45 kilometers per hour, which is
considered fast for seagoing commercial vessels, said
Salonga, a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy
and a commodore in the Coast Guard’s auxiliary corps.
Salonga
said that after the naming ceremony, the ship will be
delivered to Dioryx, the same client which has ordered
five other ships from Hanjin.
He added
that the Korean shipbuilder is also set to build 10
other vessels for various clients by 2010.
At the
same time, Salonga stressed both the pride and economic
impact that Hanjin’s shipbuilding operations bring to
the Subic Bay Freeport.
“Considering that labor constitutes 40 percent of
shipbuilding cost—and that 40 percent goes directly to
the workers’ pockets—the industry provides a great
beneficial effect on the lives of our people and local
communities,” he said.
With the
$60-million price tag on Argolikos, for example, around
$24 million or approximately P984 million would go to
workers’ salaries, Salonga said. The total financial
windfall for workers from the 16 vessels already ordered
from Hanjin would be “surely mind-boggling,” he added.
Salonga
added that the first Subic-made vessel represents “one
more feather in the SBMA’s cap.”
“With
this as the first of 16 container ships that Hanjin is
scheduled to build here, Subic is bolstering its bid to
become a major shipbuilding site, as well as making a
significant impact on the emergence of the country as a
major shipbuilder in Southeast Asia,” he said. |
