GLOBAL port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is fast-tracking the construction of new yard facilities at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
The Razon-led firm is also speeding up the rollout of its initiatives to build an inland container depot (ICD) in a 21-hectare area in Laguna.
The two ventures, being undertaken in anticipation of a surge in trade with the sustained robust growth of the Philippine economy, will jointly add more than 20 percent to the firm’s existing static-yard capacity without creating an impact on traffic patterns.
Even in its earliest stages of development, the new ICD alone will add new laden, empty and warehousing capacity to the market, and will deliver a further 250,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) capacity to MICT, said Christian R. Gonzalez, who head’s the group’s operations in Asia Pacific.
The inland container depot in Laguna is only one of two 20-hectare properties that ICTSI has purchased to be developed into inland ports. Development will begin in November with the first phases available for use by February 2015.
“These plans have been on the drawing board, ready for execution and we were just waiting for government concurrence. Now that we have it and we have the resources, we can move quickly to fast-track these projects,” Gonzalez said.
He said ICTSI also has plans and the attendant resources to build a new berth.
A new berth is pivotal for incremental capacity to address economic expansion for many years down the line. We hope the government will re-visit this plan for a new berth, the official said.
The Manila-based yard will be equipped with a minimum of six rubber-tired gantries (RTG). The purchase of more RTGs and rail-mounted gantries for the Laguna inland port is also being planned.
While these two yards are being developed, an adjacent temporarily empty handling area at the MICT will also be put into operation by November 1.
Without any further changes to the road network or additional truck restrictions, the completion of these new yards will raise the overall capacity of Manila’s two international ports to 4.2 million TEUs.
Asian Terminal Inc.’s South Harbor has a declared capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.
ICTSI will be incorporating rail provisions into the new MICT yard to augment the 21-hectare Laguna ICD. The inland port will be linked to the MICT by road and later on by rail to ensure the most seamless transfer of cargo from the Ports of Manila to economic zones south of the metropolis.
The expansion at the MICT and the ICD will be complemented by the Razon-led firm’s plan to raise the capacity of its Subic terminals to establish Subic as Northern and Central Luzon’s next gateway port and not a mere spillover terminal.
ICTSI and partner lines are further connecting Subic to Japan, Singapore, China, and further on, Europe and the Middle East.