The Department of Transportation and port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. inaugurated the Cavite Gateway Terminal, the country’s first container barge terminal.
A project by ICTSI, in coordination with the DOTr and Philippine Ports Authority, the Cavite Gateway Terminal will allow trans-shipment of cargo from international ports in Manila to Cavite via barges and roll-on roll-off operations.
ICTSI said that by moving cargo and people out of the roads and into the waterways, the CGT was expected to decongest traffic in major roads and offer a faster, more cost-effective access to the Cavite market.
The terminal offers direct port-to-port customer service and seamless cargo transfer to other major Luzon ports, acting as a container hub and provisions for empty container storage.
Located in Tanza, Cavite, the terminal is positioned to be strategic, as it is within the presence of the Cavite Export Processing Zone, which hosts 400-plus actively operating companies in the municipality of Rosario, and future processing zones in neighboring cities.
The CGT has an annual capacity of 115,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, including a RoRo wharf, storage for dry laden and empty containers, project cargo and ISO tanks. It will also offer RoRo barge berthing, container storage/yard leasing, empty container maintenance and repair, dry and reefer, container weighing and other container related services.
All services are backed by a state-of-the-art logistics hub on 24/7 systems-based operation and a one-stop logistics shop for reefers dry cargo.
Once operational, the CGT is expected to result in 140,000 fewer truck trips annually, reducing road traffic by almost two kilometers of trucks per day.
“As we try to make the Filipino life comfortable, we also try to make the pursuit of the businessman worthwhile and profitable,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.
Construction of the CGT began in October 2017 and was completed in about a year. Barge operations started in September.
