New OPASCOR bldg breaks ground

MANILA, Philippines —  A P40-million new operations building will soon rise for the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. at the Cebu International Port.

The project, which broke grounds on Friday, is anchored on the principle that it is better to invest more in infrastructure “as revenue will just follow.”

“We have step up; otherwise, we may go down. There are more challenges to come and we have to be prepared to meet those challenges,” said lawyer Tomas Riveral, chairman and chief executive officer of OPASCOR.

Officials said the construction of this new facility is in line with the Cebu Port Authority’s reconfiguration project which aims to increase yard capacity.

The project will help maximize the use of the CIP area for cargo handling activities. It will be built on the CIP property.

Although its cost is P40 million, Riveral explained that the total cost may reach up to P70 million when the fixtures, furniture and other equipment are factored in.

It will be in a three-storey building whose ground floor will be used as a container freight station warehouse that will cater container stripping and stuffing activities.

 The second and third floors will house department offices, conference rooms, multi-purpose hall and a canteen.

A command center will also be set up for real-time monitoring of the vessels and yard operations through CCTV cameras.

In addition, there will be a viewing deck and a lounge area designed for shipping line representative/vessel's agents/clients who wish to stay while their vessels are being serviced.

The building will have a total area of 2,200 square meters and is expected to be completed in seven months.

It can be recalled that last October 1, OPASCOR inaugurated its P1-billion Finger Pier located at the northern part of the CIP.

Riveral had said that this finger pier will address the need for more berthing and yard space at CIP, as well as increase its operational capacity.

Under this Build-Operate-Transfer  scheme, OPASCOR will turn over its ownership to the Cebu Port Authority 15 years after its operation that started already last October 7.

CIP Finger Pier is a 1.25-hectare facility which will accommodate general cargo vessels carrying rice, steel, cement, salt and other bulk cargoes bound for Cebu.

The Finger Pier, it said, has a berthing area of 250 meters and can accommodate two small/medium vessels or one large vessel. It has a yard space of 7,500 square meters capable of stacking an additional load of 1,050 TEUs of containers which will increase the total storage capacity of CIP to more than 10,000 TEUs at any given time.

OPASCOR said that with the newly-constructed Finger Pier, the current CIP berthing area for foreign cargoes shall be primarily used to service vessels carrying containerized cargoes.

At the end of the Finger Pier, a Roll-On/Roll-Off ramp is also constructed designed for RoRo vessels or barges. This is to allow barging as a viable alternative of transporting cargoes outside of CIP via the sea to avoid road congestion.

OPASCOR is a workers-owned and -operated Filipino company providing port services to vessels calling at the CIP

Established in 1990 by its worker-owners, OPASCOR now has more than 700 employees, including those from its two subsidiaries, the Golden Continental Port Terminal Services Inc. in Cagayan de Oro and Diadem Terminal Maritime Services & Realty Inc. in Cebu City.  JMD (FREEMAN)