ICTSI says it wants to turn Japan port into regional hub

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Posted: 1:13 AM | May 25, 2006
Daxim L. Lucas
Inquirer

INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), the country's largest port management company, said it planned to expand its operations in Japan and develop the Okinawa port into an East Asian regional hub.

ICTSI said in a statement that its Naha International Container Terminal in Okinawa, Japan, was eyeing the expanded status with a proposal for a new service route between the western ports of China and the southern ports of Japan.

"As trade between the two Asian economic giants increases, the Naha terminal, ideally located at the center of the East China Sea, is ready to facilitate Chinese cargo bound for Japan, and Japanese cargo bound for China," it said.

Port operator and manager Naha International Container Terminal Inc. (NICT), an affiliate of ICTSI, is developing the port into an alternative hub in the region, ICTSI executive vice president Edgardo Abesamis said.

"With its strategic location, the NICT is ideally situated to respond to the rapidly growing trade between mainland Asia, and the rapidly growing regional markets, particularly China and its primary trading partners," Abesamis said.

"We will begin by introducing a new route, that will transship cargo at the Naha port from the eastern ports of China and southern ports of Japan," he said.

The plan is to establish a China-Naha-Kyushu service that will connect eastern Chinese ports, like Xiamen, Fuzhou and Wenzhou, to Naha.

According to the plan, vessels carrying Japanese imports from these ports will transship containers at the Okinawan port. Once in Naha, Chinese lines may also load Japanese cargo bound for China.

In Japan, southern ports, like the Kitakyushu port cluster, Fukuoka and Kagoshima, will also connect to Naha through vessels carrying containers bound for China. Japanese lines, on the other hand, may pick up Chinese cargo in Naha intended for the Japanese market.

"Our proposed route will improve liner service as this is effectively an all water door-to-door service," Abesamis said. "We would have reduced transit times between Chinese and Kyushu ports which were not served by main line vessels, and reduced inland transport costs once we roll out the new service."

ICTSI said several Chinese shipping lines had expressed interest in the proposed route.

Plans are underway to address cost concerns as well as to introduce competitive tariffs at the Naha port, it said.

The Naha terminal has two new quay cranes and a straight wharf of 600 meters with two berthing positions at a controlling depth of 13 meters. The terminal has an area of 21 hectares.

The Naha Port Authority declared ICTSI the winning bidder for privatization of the port in late 2004. It signed with ICTSI a 10-year concession to manage and operate the terminal.

This is ICTSI's first port venture in East Asia and also marks the first time that such a facility has been privatized by the Japanese government, selecting a foreign company as its operator. With INQ7.net