A. The Project:

The San Fernando, Cebu International Port with Reclamation Component project requires the reclamation of 23.66 hectares of off-shoreland along the Cebu-Bohol Strait. It is located in the industrial southern part of Cebu Province and is merely thirty-two (32) kilometers away from the existing main Cebu base port of Cebu International Port with an area of only 12 hectares more or less. The proposed port will have a quay length of more than 640 meters at its main berthing area and can initially accommodate 3 to 4 vessels with a capacity of 15,000 to 30,000 Tons capacity at any given time.

Once completed and fully operational it will have a total quay distance of more than 2,140 meters and can accommodate 6 to 10 ships at one time. Three (3) Quay S2S Gantry Crane and five (5) Rubber Tired Gantry will be initially installed in strategic location to serve the handling needs of containers and other cargoes. The proposed port is planned to have 72 to 90 warehouses with an area of 1,200 square meters each to serve the requirement of the shipping operators and other locators while reserving more than enough space for an open stockyard and back up area for future use of car carrier ships and even cruise ship who already made inquiries from the Cebu Port of Authority (CPA).

B. Rationale & Necessity of the Project:

The conceptualization of the port project emerged in view of the immediate needs of the Southern part of Cebu Province which is fast becoming as the industrial growth center and also to answer the needs of existing industrial plant in the area consisting of the three (3) cement plants (Mabuhay, Taiheiyo and Apo Cement), steel plant of Steel Asia Corporation and the other industries in the southern part of the province which are all within  5 kilometers away from the proposed port project. It should be noted that all these industries mentioned are presently undergoing expansion to meet the demands of the present economic activities and the BUILD, BETTER, MORE project of the present administration of PBBM.

Also, the proposed port will serve as an alternative port and the answer to the existing and perennial problem of port congestion at the Cebu International Port of the Cebu Base Port which have already exceeded its handling and volume capacity as early as 2008. Anent, incoming ships have to wait for two to three weeks to dock and berth before it can unload its cargo thereby unnecessarily increasing the shipping cost which translate to increases in the prices of goods and commodities. (Source Cebu Port Authority)

1. Status of the Existing Cebu Base Port:

In the Study on Private-Initiative Infrastructure Projects – On the Cebu Container Port Project report made by Oriental Consultants Co. Ltd. and Ides Co., Ltd. dated February, 2012 which was commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. “The Study on the Master Plan for the Strategic Development of the National Port System in the Republic of the Philippines,” (Philippine Port System Strategy) worked out a strategic national port master plan with the target year 2024 and an urgent development plan with the target year 2009. Cebu Port is designated as one of six major national gateway ports (major ports for international container trade) in this national plan.

In addition, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and the East Asia (ERIA) issued a report in 2010. The Comprehensive Asia Development Plan, “in which Cebu Port is also identified as the major port of the Philippines that needs to be developed urgently.

However, due to policy change by the proponent of CPA, a proposal for development by a private investor and no agreement by the local government, the development of the New Cebu Port has not materialized.

Twenty years have passed since the JICA study in 2002. Nowadays, the congestion has become more serious due to increasing cargo volume. The congestion of the international and domestic container terminals is remarkable. In order to handle the increasing container cargo, two quayside gantry cranes installed in 2003 were increased to four gantry cranes in 2010 and increases to seven gantry cranes at present with seventeen RTG’s. For other cargoes except containers, due to the very narrow apron area, congestion during the loading and unloading is much more serious. Therefore, the efficiency of cargo handling decreases and the safety of ports operations become an issue.

According to information from shipping companies, the water depth in front of the wharf is too shallow for efficient and economical international shipping operation from/to Kaoshiung, Pusan, Hongkong and Singapore. They have a lease contract for empty container stocking in the city proper because of the lack of valuable land in the terminal. Deepening of the berth to accommodate bigger container ships is very difficult because of the structure of the berth, pier type with a retaining wall. Expansion of the wharf into the sea is also no longer feasible due to the narrow strait between Cebu Island and Mactan Island.

2. Mode of Financing in Establishing of  this New Cebu Port:

Initially the proponent thought of PPP funding scheme in the implementation of the project. However, considering the budget limitation of the government in its own  national projects they decided to tap the resources of the private sector both local and foreign considering also the good financial viability of the Project. 

3. The Location of New Cebu Container Port:

In the 2002 JICA Report, five candidate sites were proposed. As PPP or Private Initiative scheme is assumed in the financing of this project, the estimated construction cost is used as the most important factor for evaluation of the site selection even though other factors such as ease of access to the New Port and safe navigation of the ships are also important. To compare the sites, rough port planning was done to calculate the major volume of quantity such as dredging, reclamation, container berth and breakwaters to estimate the construction cost. In that study the Tayud, Consolacion site in the northern part of Cebu Province is considered as the most economical and recommendable.

However, recent developments would show that the present proposed site in the Municipality of San Fernando, Cebu, is far more strategic and ideal as the new site of Cebu Container Port considering its depth harbor and natural cove location that serves as shelter against typhoon and Southwest Monsoon.

The site in Brgy. Sangat, San Fernando, Cebu is more financially attractive and viable, as it is surrounded by big industries and has no road right of way issue being adjacent and parallel to the National Highway, unlike the former site where the road right of way is a big challenge as it is far from the national highway, surrounded by commercial establishment and heavily populated by informal settlers.

The location of the new port is adjacent to existing shipyard of Trigon Engineering & Shipyard with existing ships repair and drydocking facilities. Moreover, the location is in industrial south of the province and has no environmental concerns. 

The proposed port will primarily serve the existing industries in the area some of which already submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to relocate into and use the port facilities once completed,. It will serve as an alternative port to Cebu International Port to help solve its congestion problem. It will also be designated as the Customs Designated Examination Area (DEA) to cater to international cargo ships. 

The proposed port can easily be expanded by an additional of 30 to 0 hectares adjacent to Area 3 and will be registered as a special Economic Zone under PEZA and will be devoted for another facilities and industries registered and accredited by PEZA.

Cargo Handling Services

The proposed port will have an initial of 2 STS Quay Crane, complimented by sufficient numbers of RTG crane and other types of handling equipment for all types of cargo. The rolling stock & container yard is wide enough to accommodate 3,000 TEU'S

The total quay length of Sangat Port is more than 2000 meters once completed and it can accommodate several vessels all at the same time. Also, the location is along the Bohol strait endowed with wide expanse of sea and natural depth Thus, docking & berthing of large vessels will be easy & convenient.

In addition to the regular vessels the port will also cater to Bulk, Break Bulk cargoes, Car Carrier & Cruise ship. Warehousing facilities with an area of 1,200 sqm. each totaling 70 units will be made available to port users & locators

Berthing & Docking Services

Warehousing Facilities