Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., a leading provider of harbor assistance, lighterage, salvage and towing services, on Monday disclosed a plan to expand in Indonesia and Myanmar.
Harbor Star president and chief executive Geronimo Bella Jr. said in an interview at the sidelines of the special stockholders meeting the company was in talks with the Port Authority of Myanmar, which was building a tank farm to serve as an oil depot for an oil company.
Bella said Harbor Star planned to provide tugboat assistance services to the tank farm, which was slated for completion by the third quarter of 2017.
Harbor Shipping is also in talks with a company in Indonesia, which needs two tugboats to support existing operations, he said.
Harbor Star currently has operations in Malaysia.
Bella said with the planned international expansion, the company was looking to add six tugboats to the current fleet of 52.
Aside from overseas expansion, Harbor Star is also looking to venture into renewable sector, he said.
Bella said the company planned to build a solar plant in Mindanao with a capacity of 25 megawatts.
Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. earlier partnered with Harbor Star to operate Cavite Gateway Terminal on a six-hectare property owned by the former in Tanza, Cavite.
The plan involves the construction of the Philippines’ first barge terminal for shipping containers between the Port of Manila and Cavite, a project that could potentially reduce annual truck trips on city roads by 140,000.
Bella said the company aimed to replicate the project in Cebu and Bataan.
The company is in talks with Cebu Ports Authority for the planned expansion.
Bella said funding for the company’s expansion plan would come from the P1-billion follow-on offering to be conducted in the third quarter.
Harbor Star will sell 350 million to 500 million common shares, representing 17.5 percent to 25 percent of the company’s outstanding capital stock.
Share price of Harbor Star on Monday traded lower by 1.4 percent to P3.54 from Friday’s close.