CPA seeks partners to fund proposed international port

The Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) is currently seeking for potential partners to help fund the construction of the P18 billion international seaport to be located in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu.

CPA general manager Angelo Verdan said that his office is now actively looking for entities to help fund the project, although it currently has ongoing negotiations with two international shipping lines, which have expressed interest to speed up the completion of the project.

Although not urgently, Verdan emphasized that Cebu definitely needs a new port.

“We have received proposals to fund the project from the Cebu provincial government and private companies from Japan and Dubai on a build-operate-transfer agreement. Two blue international shipping lines have also expressed interest,” he said.

If a private company will finance the construction, CPA will still be the administrative body, Verdan pointed out.

CPA aims to start actual construction of the 120-hectares seaport in 2010.

He said CPA together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has already completed the preliminary studies for the proposed New Cebu Port, however actual construction is still slated by 2010.

The New Cebu Port will sit on a 120-hectare (ha) reclaimed property in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu.

Construction will be done in two phases. Phase one will include the reclamation development of the first 80 hectares.

Verdan stressed that, though it may take five to eight years for the international port to be finished and operational, he said this buys CPA more time to study other possible developments in the existing Cebu International Port (CIP).

Among the considerations raised was utilizing the area as a feasible cite for commercial or residential buildings either for hotels or condominiums, as likened to the harbors of Hong Kong and Singapore.

"The CIP is still not yet saturated. We have the time," he said, adding that once the New Cebu Port opens, it will catapult Cebu as "an international shipping trading center."

Verdan expressed belief that the New Cebu Port is a "necessary investment" for Cebu if it wants to be competitive in the global shipping industry because the Mean Low Level Water average of the existing docking area at the CIP only has a depth of 8.5 meters which is below international standards of at least 10 meters.

That of the proposed New Cebu Port, Verdan said it has a depth of 15 to 18 meters which can accommodate Panama-class vessels.