PNOC-Shipping in joint venture talks with four foreign firms

At least four big foreign shipping firms are negotiating with PNOC-Shipping and Transport Corp. (PSTC), the shipping arm of the Philippine National Oil Co., for a possible joint venture.

PSTC president Cesar Tapia said aside from these four international shipping companies, there are three other local shipping groups that have expressed interest in buying into the company.

One of the four foreign shipping companies is based in London while another is managed by a Greek shipping group. One is based in Japan while the fourth is based in Hong Kong.

Tapia said their initial plan is to sell the PSTC lock, stock and barrel but they believe that they would fetch better results if they would just sell the shopping firm through a strategies partnership and allow an investor to own up to 60 percent of the firm.

Tapia said they have failed twice to privatize the company. The first time was in 1994 and the second time was in 1997.

"Since then, we have studied our mode of privatization and decided it would be best to forge joint venture with private companies," he said.

He said they have to work out a way to improve the financial standing of the company so that they could get a favorable response from potential investors.

According to Tapia, they have a pending loan application for P200 million from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

This loan, he said, will allow them to purchase a vessel that is less than 10 years old. "We can make money if we have trading vessels. If we do not have the ship, we can’t earn," he added.

He noted that the purchase of a new vessel would enable the company to improve its existing shipping contracts with clients. PSTC, at present, ferries oil products from the company’s refineries. The deliveries, he said, are normally inter-island.