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Davao International Container Terminal welcomed the maiden call of Gothong Southern Freight’s M/V Doña Danessa Isobel on August 10 as part of a new weekly call
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GSF is the first commercial domestic container line to call DICT since MCC’s domestic service back in 2017
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DICT first vice president and general manager Giovanni Pimentel said GSF is mainly serving a customer transporting containers to Visayas and Luzon for now
Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) welcomed the maiden call of Gothong Southern Freight’s (GSF) M/V Doña Danessa Isobel on August 10 as part of the local carrier’s new weekly service to the Panabo, Davao del Norte terminal.
“This call marks an important milestone for Davao Region’s domestic trade and logistics sector as a new shipping service is made available by GSF for containers shipped from and to other locations in the Philippines via DICT,” the terminal said in a social media post.
GSF is the first commercial domestic container line to call DICT since MCC’s domestic service back in 2017, DICT first vice president and general manager Giovanni Pimentel told PortCalls in an email.
Asked what shipments will benefit from the service, Pimentel said GSF is mainly serving a customer transporting containers to Visayas and Luzon for now.
“Eventually, we expect others to notice and check if DICT and GSF offers economic advantage to their domestic logistical requirements,” Pimentel, a speaker at the upcoming PortCalls-organized Mindanao Shipping Conference 2024 in Davao on Sept 6, said. He added there are also cargoes coming from Manila bound for warehouses more proximate to DICT and those are the inbound prospects of the service.
Strategically located near plantations and economic zones, DICT mostly handles agricultural products and products that complement Davao’s reefer trade.
International shipping lines currently calling DICT include CMA CGM, SITC, PIL, MSC, Wah Hai, Yang Ming, ZIM, Cosco, and OOCL.
In 2021, DICT completed its expansion, bringing annual capacity to 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.
The 600-meter berth is now capable of handling two full-size Panamax vessels at one time while the container yard has been expanded to a total of 20 hectares. A new access road connecting to the north end of the coastal road has also been built. – Roumina Pablo
READ: DICT container throughput down 8% in 2022 on low banana output
