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The Department of Transportation hopes to break ground this year for the civil works of the P16.93-billion New Cebu International Container Port Project after awarding the contract to the winning bidder
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Transportation undersecretary for maritime Elmer Francisco Sarmiento said civil works contract for the NCICP was awarded to Korean firm HJ Shipbuilding and Construction Corp. last week
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Civil works can start upon signing of the contract slated this month
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) eyes groundbreaking for P16.93-billion New Cebu International Container Port (NCICP) by year-end after finally awarding the contract to the winning project bidder, according to Undersecretary for maritime Elmer Francisco Sarmiento.
The civil works contract for the NCICP was awarded to Korean firm HJ Shipbuilding and Construction Corp.—formerly Korea Shipbuilding & Engineering Corporation and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd.—last week and civil works can start upon signing of the contract slated this month, Sarmiento told PortCalls in a text message.
HJ Shipbuilding is already at Consolacion, Cebu and is “ready to start” the project, Sarmiento added. DOTr hopes to complete the project by 2028.
Earlier, Sarmiento said they were hoping to start construction by September after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board last June greenlit the changes to parameters of the NCICP Project.
The new project cost is P16.929 billion, up from the initial P9.962 billion, while the new implementation period is up to June 21, 2028.
READ: Cost of new Cebu port up 70% to P16.9B
DOTr undersecretary for planning and project development Timothy John Batan earlier said DOTr sought the NEDA Board’s approval to hike the project cost which has grown since the first Board approval in 2016.
Sarmiento earlier said the project encountered delays in procurement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lowest bid was more than the cost estimate so that paperwork had to be redone and another approval from project funder Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) and the NEDA Board sought.
Groundworks for the NCICP was to have originally started in August 2022. The civil works component was bid out in 2022, and won by HJ Shipbuilding.
The Philippine government and South Korea’s KEXIM in 2018 signed a $172.64-million loan agreement for the project; a counterpart funding of P1.28 billion would be financed by the Philippine government.
Sarmiento earlier said the project has two approaches: civil works which will be funded by official development assistance from KEXIM, and the purchase of quay cranes that will be under a public-private partnership.
NCICP will have a berthing facility with a 500-meter-long quay wall that can simultaneously accommodate two 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessels; operating facilities and structures for containers such as a freight station and an inspection shed; an access road and bridge; and a dredged
waterway and turning basin. It will be equipped with four quay cranes.
The port will be built on a 25-hectare reclaimed area in Tayug, Consolacion, Cebu and connected to the mainland by a 300-meter offshore bridge.
A new international terminal is seen as the long-term solution to growing volumes handled at the Cebu International Port.
Several feasibility studies, the most recent one by KEXIM, suggest locating the new sea hub in Tayug, Consolacion, some eight kilometers from the Cebu base port.
The project is one of the government’s big-ticket infrastructure flagship projects.
READ: Cebu port contract may be awarded to HJ Shipbuilding in Oct
