Container throughput at the Port of Subic grew 93% in August to 83,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 43,000 TEUs in the same month last year, according to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Roberto V. Garcia.
In a press briefing, Garcia said efforts by SBMA and partner locators to ensure ease in cargo processing at the Port of Subic as well as other marketing initiatives contributed to the rise in container volume.
“We are the only port in Luzon that has a one-stop shop, and this gives us the competitive edge,” Garcia explained. “They come to our container port, go to our one-stop shop where offices of the SBMA, Customs, and the Landbank are there all in one place, and in just a matter of 30 minutes, their papers are already processed.”
“The one-stop shop and our marketing programs such as the two recent maritime summits and the formation of a Maritime Technical Group, are all coming into play right now,“ the SBMA official added.
At the rate the Port of Subic is performing, Garcia said he expects volume this year to double from last year’s record of 77,000 TEUs.
He concurred with Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who said at a recent forum that Subic is the answer to the current traffic congestion in Manila.
“Senator Marcos hasn’t been here for some time, but he was really impressed with Subic. We are really pushing very hard to increase the volume here to help decongest Manila,” Garcia said.
Subic Bay is the only port in the western seaboard of the Philippines that still has enough capacity to handle additional container volume, he said.
Seven shipping lines are regularly calling on the port, including Maersk, APL, NYK, and SITC.
