A common-user barge and roll-on roll-off terminal is expected to open in Cavite province next month to reduce the volume of trucks passing through Metro Manila, according to the Transportation Department.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade who conducted a site visit on May 26 said the Cavite Gateway Terminal Phase 1 project of port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. in Tanza, Cavite was now over 90-percent complete. He said with over 300 workers focusing on the project, it was on track for launch before the end of June.
The Cavite Gateway Terminal Phase 1 project will handle barges that can carry 20 and 30-foot container trucks now plying the routes of Metro Manila from Subic Port in the north and Batangas Port in the south.
Dubbed as the first barge terminal of its kind in the Philippines, the project will have 550 ground slots for containers. It will accommodate barges with estimated two to three hours of ferry time, with initial multiple pick-up locations.
ICTSI is investing $30 million in the first phase of the project. ICTSI senior vice president for Asia-Pacific and Manila International Container Terminal head Christian Gonzales earlier said the company was imitating the success of the barge port in Mongkok, Hong Kong.
“As Hong Kong became congested due to economic development, they’ve realized that in order for the port to continue to expand and the port to continue to succeed, they needed to build more roads and bridges but it will take time, so the solution is to run an extensive barging operation,” Gonzales said.
ICTSI earlier reported a net income of $44.1 million in the first quarter, down 15 percent from $51.7 million in the same period last year.
Gross revenues from port operations rose 9 percent in the first quarter to $325.4 million from $297.2 million a year earlier. Excluding the new terminals, consolidated gross revenues increased 6 percent.
ICTSI handled consolidated volume of 2,325,540 twenty-foot equivalent units in the first quarter, or 2 percent more than the 2,272,647 TEUs handled in the same period in 2017.