Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transport is bullish about Philippine outports, especially General Santos, Cebu and Davao.
Roderick Yu, vice president and chief operating officer of Sky International, Inc., Yang Ming’s general agent in the Philippines, told PortCalls in an interview that banana exporters in Davao, even the small ones, are bullish as they have recovered from the 2012 typhoon that destroyed most plantations in the area.
In order to better cater to banana reefer exporters, Sky International recently opened an office in Davao. Yang Ming calls Davao International Container Terminal on a weekly feeder service with RCL/ACL via Singapore to Middle East using the CGX 1 and CGX 2 services.
Tuna from General Santos is also a potentially high export commodity to Asia and Europe. For this trade, Yang Ming has all-new Magnum containers suitable for the carriage of frozen tuna with low temperature requirements.
The Cebu area likewise posted an increase in import volume as a result of the Manila port congestion and greater business activity in the region. Sky International’s Cebu branch is capable of handling all shipping requirements out of this sector.
Batangas and Subic ports also offer interesting possibilities. Yu said.
In Subic, the liner expects much growth especially since some companies, such as San Miguel Brewery, have already transferred their shipments to Subic.
As for Manila, the growth in volume —composed mostly of manufacturing — will be steady, according to Sky International marketing manager Michelle Rodriguez. Sky International recently deployed their truck fleet to serve VIP accounts.
Big ambitions
Beyond the Philippines, Yang Ming has grand ambitions, eyeing to land a higher ranking this year in the list of the world’s largest container carriers, Yu said. The liner is currently in 13th place, according to the latest report by Alphaliner.
This year’s target will hopefully be egged on by the deployment, which started in April, of a 14,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessel. The YM Wish is one of 15 ordered by Yang Ming. The 14 others will be delivered by 2016. The vessels are expected to lower operational costs and are more energy-efficient.
They will be deployed on the Europe trade, an area where Yang Ming seeks to be more aggressive in, Yu said. Vessels replaced on the Europe trade will be cascaded to operations in America, and those from the America trade to Asia.
The deployment of large vessels will mean more aggressive marketing from Sky International, said Rodriguez.
Meantime, the launch of new services will also go a long way in helping boost Yang Ming’s global ambitions.
The Asia-ECSA service has the following ports of call: Pusan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Singapore, Rio De Janeiro, Santos, Navegantes, Paranagua, Santos, Rio De Janeiro, Singapore, Hong Kong and Pusan.
Starting July 11, the Far East-West Coast of Central and South America service will commence. Ports of call are Shekou–Kaohsiung–Ningbo-Shanghai–Busan–Manzanillo, Mexico–Buenaventura, Colombia–Callao, Peru–Valparaiso, Chile–San Vicente, Chile–Manzanillo, Mexico–Busan–Shekou – Roumina Pablo
