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THE
International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI)
has taken over the operation of Mindanao Container
Terminal on Thursday, or about three months after it
bagged the contract from the government.
ICTSI,
whose shares are traded on the Philippine Stock
Exchange, said in a statement its southern unit, the
Mindanao International Container Terminal Services Inc.
(MICTSI), will manage the port, which is becoming one of
the main gateways in southern Philippines.
“Phividec Industrial Authority [PIA] turned over the
terminal to MICTSI yesterday afternoon in accordance
with the concession contract that was awarded to ICTSI
in April 2008. PIA allowed ICTSI to establish a wholly
owned subsidiary—MICTSI—to operate the terminal in
accordance with the concession contract,” the company
said.
In March
ICTSI bagged the 25-year contract to manage and operate
the port in Misamis Oriental, outbidding Asian Terminals
Inc. and Harbour Centre Port Terminals Inc., both of
which operate their flagship facility in the Port of
Manila.
The
Mindanao terminal, or MCT, is about 20 kilometers from
Cagayan de Oro City, where another terminal owned by the
Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is also in operation.
Phividec,
or Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corp., is
operating the port after two failed biddings during the
past years.
The
government is privatizing the management and operation
of the MCT, one of the most modern facilities in
Mindanao, to attract more direct callers and increase
cargo traffic in the port, which has been a subject of
bitter court rivalry in the past years.
Phividec,
at one point, had offered its cargo-handling operations
to ICTSI without bidding just to attract callers, but
the publicly listed firm controlled by Enrique Razon Jr.
declined the offer.
On April
27, 2004, three days after President Arroyo inaugurated
the terminal, the Misamis Oriental Regional Trial Court
barred MCT from accepting local and international
cargoes.
Oro Port
Cargo Handling Services, the cargo-handling operator of
PPA-owned Cagayan de Oro Port, had convinced the court
on the exclusivity of its contract to handle cargoes in
and out of Cagayan de Oro.
In earl
2006 the court lifted its restraining order, which paved
the way for the commercial operations of MCT.
After
the court lifted its order, investments started to pour
into the economic zone and generated enough cargo
volume.
Ten
months after the court allowed MCT to operate, the
terminal was able to handle about 38,000 twenty-foot
equivalent units, or TEUs.
MCT has
three regular callers, including Magsaysay-owned
National Marine Corp. and Lorenzo Shipping Corp. and
international carrier Maersk.
MCT has
two gantry cranes and four gantries on rubber wheels. It
could accommodate ships of up to 150,000 TEUs.
The
terminal has a total handling capacity of 270,000
containers per year and provisions for expansion to
accommodate larger ships and container yards. Its berth
length is 300 meters with a depth of 13 meters. |
