BOI okays P683.9-M Aviva shipping proj

MANILA, Philippines - The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the P683.9 million shipping project of local firm Aviva Shipping Corporation in Surigao.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said there is a need to improve logistics facilities in the country to make the domestic supply chain activities more competitive.

The Aviva shipping project involves the acquisition of six landing craft transport (LCT) vessels which could be used for shallow waters and roll-on roll-off (RORO) cargo operations.

The vessels will have a combined cargo capacity of 14,645 deadweight tonnage (DWT), and 9,552 gross tonnage.

Aviva, also a registered and accredited Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) firm, will also help facilitate transport of mineral products from mining companies operating in Surigao.

Based on the domestic operating fleet inventories of MARINA, there are 11,942 merchant vessels currently operating in the country with a total of 2,125,694 gross registered tonnage (GRT) as of June 2011.

Merchant vessels operating in the country include passenger ferry, passenger cargo, general cargo, cargo, cargo ships, container, liquid cargo, barging, tanker, and towing among others. General cargo/cargo ship containers accounted for 1,470 vessels or 12.31 percent in terms of number of vessels and 38 percent in total gross register tonnage (GRT). GRT refers to a ship’s internal volume. A cargo vessel has an average of 528 GRT.

The Philippines was ranked 52nd out of the 155 nations as among the world’s best in trade logistics, according to 2011 World Bank’s Logistics Performance Indicators study. The Philippines was ranked as among the top performers in the lower middle income category, which also includes India and Mexico. The WB study said their high performance was due to strong cooperation between the public and private sectors, and comprehensive approach in developing services, infrastructure, and logistics.