The Philippine Board of Investment recently granted pioneer status to Manila North Harbour Port, Inc (MNHPI) for investing in domestic port North Port (formerly North Harbor).
The status entitles MNHPI to a six-year income tax holiday.
The port’s modernization plan involves building and reconstructing piers, construction of a new container terminal, installation of cranes and support equipment, establishment of an operations center, setting up of a new passenger terminal to be completed before year-end, and land reclamation.
MNHPI has started the project’s first phase involving construction of Terminal 1 or the passenger terminal building as well as 50-meter berth extension for Piers 4 and 10 to provide alternative berthing area for non-containerized cargoes. This part of the project will be completed by April 2013.
The entire first phase will be implemented over six years. The first year should see completion of a crane rail for two load-on load-off berths at Terminal 1 and
pavement/concreting of container yards. After completion of the crane rail, MNHPI will procure two shore cranes and support equipment.
A joint venture between Harbour Centre Port Terminals, Inc and San Miguel Corp, MNHPI has committed P14.5 billion in total to modernize North Port, of which P1 billion had already been sunk in. Another P1 billion is being used for the interim passenger terminal and container terminal, part of the project’s first phase.
North Port is expected to handle 850,000 twenty-foot equivalent units from last year’s 750,000 TEUs. The port has a capacity of up to 1.5 million TEUs.
