ICTSI unit mulls Okinawa shipping hub

By EMMIE V. ABADILLA

The Japanese affiliate of the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) plans to make its Okinawa terminal the shipping hub of East Asia.

Naha International Container Terminal (NICT) has proposed a new service route between the western ports of China and the southern ports of Japan.

Once trade perks up between the two Asian economic giants, the NICT, which stands strategically at the center of the East China Sea, can facilitate Chinese cargo bound for Japan, and Japanese cargo bound for China.

ICTSI’s affiliate, Naha International Container Terminal, Inc. (NICTI), NICT’s operator and manager, is developing the NICT into an alternative hub in the region.

"The NICT is ideally situated to respond to the rapidly growing trade between mainland Asia and the regional markets, particularly China and its primary trading partners," according to Edgardo Q. Abesamis, ICTSI Executive Vice President and NICTI President.

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

Plans are underway to establish a China-NahaKyushu service that will connect eastern Chinese ports like Xiamen, Fuzhou and Wenzhou to Naha. Vessels carrying Japanese imports from these ports will transship containers at the NICT. 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 at the NICT intended for the Japanese market.

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

Several Chinese lines have already expressed interest in NICTI’s proposed route. Now, the company plans to address cost concerns as well as to introduce competitive tariffs at the NICT.

The Japanese government envisions the NICT to be a major port of call in the near future with more liner services at the NICT and the installation of a logistics center at the Naha Port.

Aside from the reduced transit times, the NICT will compliment the new route with world class container handling operations and crane productivity. The terminal is equipped with two new quay cranes. NICT has a straight wharf of 600 meters with two berthing positions at a controlling depth of 13 meters. Terminal area is at 21 hectares.

After declaring ICTSI as the winning bidder for the privatization of the NICT in December 2004, the Naha Port Authority (NPA) and ICTSI signed a 10year concession to manage and operate the terminal. This is ICTSI’s first port venture in East Asia. This was also the first time that a vital facility is privatized by the Japanese government, and a foreign company selected as operator.

The Okinawa Prefecture, through the NPA, formally turned over the operations of the NICT to NICTI last January.

ICTSI is a leading developer in international container terminal operations and has an experience record that spans container terminal operation in six continents.

Aside from the NICT, ICTSI operates the Manila International Container Terminal in the Philippines, its flagship; the Baltic Container Terminal in Gdynia, Poland; Suape Container Terminal in Pernambuco, Brazil; Madagascar International Container Terminal in Toamasina, Madagascar; and recently, the Makassar Container Terminal in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

 

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