Listed port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) has completed dredging the entrance channel to the Batangas port, providing the Southern Luzon hub a deeper turn basin of 13 meters.
ATI, in a press release, said this gives shipping lines the capability to maximize their loadings and offers utmost port rotation flexibility when they plan new market connections for Batangas.
The port operator added that Batangas Container Terminal’s (BCT) volume is expected to further pick up steam with the recent dredging.
For 2014, container traffic at BCT hit a record high of 98,000 twenty foot-equivalent units (TEUs) from 11,020 TEUs in 2013, up 762%.
January 2015 volume increased by as much as 1,200% to 12,000 TEUs from just 903 TEUs in the month period in 2014.
Currently, MCC Transport, the intra-Asia arm of Danish shipping giant Maersk, deploys two weekly services via Batangas.
MCC’s Philippine Feeder 6 (PH6) service offers connectivity between Batangas, Hong Kong, and Yantian, and cuts transit time by more than half for Batangas imports from North Asia via transshipment through Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, MCC’s Intra-Asia 9 (IA9) service offers direct export connectivity to Hong Kong and Yantian, as well as export transshipment to major Japan ports via Hong Kong. IA9 also facilitates direct and faster imports from Tanjung Pelepas and Singapore to Batangas.
Photo by Roumina Pablo
