One of the leading players in the construction industry in
Region 8, the Chua Group of Companies, recently inaugurated a new ship repair
and shipbuilding facility in Albuera, Leyte .
The 3,000 DWT capacity shipyard with port facility of
Megaship Builders, Inc. (MBI) was partially financed by the Development Bank of
the Philippines (DBP).
During the inauguration ceremony, Engr. Francis Lloyd T.
Chua, president of Megaship Builders, Inc., said the new shipyard is the first
in the Visayas to use marine airbag technology.
It has the capacity to simultaneously repair three to five
vessels with 2,500-3,000 gross tons in size. The facility can repair more than
40 vessels per year excluding new vessels for construction.
Since Albuera is only 111 kilometers away from Cebu City ,
shipping operators based in Cebu and nearby
areas will not have to go far for the dry docking of their fleet.
MBI’s primary target market includes shipping companies that
are based in the neighboring island of
Tacloban , Cebu and Bohol .
There are about 25 operational ports in these islands where
ships and boats from the Northern and Southern regions mostly dock, deliver,
load and upload their cargo or passengers.
The first two customers that entered into a shipbuilding
contract with MBI for the construction of steel-hulled cargo passenger LCT are
Camotes Ferry Services and Banton Liner Transport Services.
Chua anticipates that more operators of wooden-hulled vessels
will avail of their services as they are forced to modernize their fleet in
consonance with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Circular on the
progressive/ gradual phase out of wooden-hulled ships in domestic trade.
Engr. Manuel A. Chua, chairman of the Chua Group, said that
establishing the shipyard facility was first borne out of the need for the
regular repair and maintenance of their own fleet of vessels hauling aggregates
for their construction business.
He added that after years of availing of the services of
Cebu-based shipyards for the regular dry docking of their vessels, which takes
at least three months before they are serviced, they saw the opportunity to
help the industry and decided to put up their own shipyard facility.
Based on MARINA
In his message during the inauguration ceremony, DBP senior
assistant vice president Raymond Valdez emphasized that the bank supports the
vision of MARINA to transform the Philippines into a shipbuilding hub in Asia by continually expanding DBP financing for transport
infrastructure and logistics facilities.
He emphasized that such projects are high on DBP’s priority
thrusts as it is a way forward to economic development.
Being a country composed of thousands of islands, the
Philippines requires efficient and modern transport infrastructure and
logistics facilities to accelerate and sustain socio-economic growth, improve
global competitiveness, and promote physical integration.
To address the financing requirement for such
capital-intensive projects, DBP offers special long-term credit facilities with
significant advantages that may not be found in other financing vehicles, ie. a
fixed interest rate for the duration of the loan, and a longest payment term of
15 years.
MBI is one of the beneficiaries of this special lending
program.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=911953
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.