|
THE
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will bid the new
Container Terminal 2 (NCT-2) in October, with three
foreign groups that failed to participate in the bidding
for the Container Terminal 1 already expressing
interest.
Armand
Arreza, SBMA administrator, said the NCT-2 is expected
to draw more international bidders since its capacity
can still be expanded to 600,000 TEUs (twenty-foot
equivalent units), or double its current capacity,
unlike the NCT-1, which is limited to its capacity of
300,000 TEUs.
The
NCT-1 has been inaugurated with the Subic Bay
International Terminal Holdings (SBITC) consortium as
operator.
Arreza
said the NCT -2 is already 96-percent complete.
With
this, they expect to hold the international tender for
its operation and maintenance in October and then award
the contract by the second quarter of 2008.
“We will
release the TOR [terms of reference] in October and it
will probably one the same as the TOR for the NCT-1,”
Arreza said.
For the
NCT-1, SBMA sought a $1.5-million minimum fixed annual
lease and concession from the operator.
The SBMA
also wants a 10-percent to 12-percent revenue sharing
per container that will go through the facility.
Including wharfage fees, Arreza said the SBMA sees
potential annual revenues for the 300,000-TEU capacity
at $6 million.
The
annual lease for the port, which has a lifespan of 50
years, will be enough to shoulder the $60-million loan
from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation that
was used to partly fund the project.
Arreza
still did not name the three foreign groups that
expressed interest for the NCT -2. He earlier said,
however, that they are of Asian and European background.
“These
three parties that did not participate in the NCT-1
bidding will participate here,” he said.
These
three foreign groups opted out of the NCT-1 bidding
because the SBITC consortium enjoyed the right of first
refusal to it for being the former operator of the Subic
Naval Supply Depot.
Arreza
said that since the NCT-2 will be completed by the time
the contract is awarded, the operator will be enjoying a
quick start-up.
Also,
the operator has the option to double its capacity to
600,000 TEUs. |
