PH As RO-RO Shipbuilding Hub

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will promote the Philippines — currently the fourth largest shipbuilder in the world — as the manufacturing hub of roll on-roll off or small vessels for the Asian market, according to Adrian Cristobal Jr., secretary of DTI.

Cristobal said demand for this type of vessels is growing not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the region such as in Indonesia.

“We are looking at shipbuilding as one of the priority industries. What we are looking at here is not just more or new players but for existing ones to develop shipbuilding of small vessels for the domestic market,” Cristobal said.

This would address logistics concerns and encourage upgrade of fleet for safety.

Cristobal said under the current 2014-2016 Investment Priorities Plan, only new vessels are given incentives to encourage the production of new vessels.

Before, the market relied heavily on second-hand roro vessels from Japan or China because they are cheaper.

“We want to upgrade logistics and transportation and (address) safety of the riding public,” Cristobal said.

As a production hub, Cristobal said, the Philippines has the right elements to be competitive in roro production.

“It will solve a societal problem on logistics and transportation,” he added.

According to Cristobal, the Board of Investments previously received applications for new roro vessel production and there are Japanese companies interested to engage in the business.

The Philippines is currently the fourth largest shipbuilder in the world

Based on the shipbuilding industry roadmap, there are two notable Filipino-owned shipbuilding companies in the country: Herma Shipyard, Inc., which has recently gone into double hull petroleum tanker shipbuilding, and Colorado Shipyard Corp.

The country is home to foreign shipbuilders Tsuneishi Cebu shipyard, operated by Japan’s Tsuneishi Holdings Corp., in partnership with Cebu’s Aboitiz Group had produced about 77 ships by the end of 2007, according to the roadmap.

Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard meanwhile operates two shipyards, namely: Subic (350,000 dead weight tons or DWT) ) and Batangas (50,000 DWT).

But the Philippines is more popular as a shipbuilding exporter.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in its 2015 report said Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Subic has $2 billion worth of investments by far since 2010 in the freepport. Total export from 2010 stood $5 billion of which $4.84 billion were for exporting 91 vessels and the rest for 10 steel structures shipped.
Source: Malaya