GMA leads launch of first Subic-made container ship

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – President Arroyo will lead Philippine and Korean officials in the launching today of the first ship built in this freeport zone – the MV Argolikos, a $60-million container carrier.

Last May 29, representatives of Dioryx Maritime Corp., the Greek shipping firm that ordered Argolikos, and Bureau Veritas, a Paris-based conformity assessment, certification and inspection and testing company, witnessed the sea trial of the ship.

Pyeong Jong Yu, manager of Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines’ outside business department, reported to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) that M/V Argolikos successfully passed the sea trial.

The container carrier has a gross weight of 41,000 tons, length of 258.9 meters, width of 32 meters, and height of 19 meters, Yu said. 

He added that prior to the sea trial, Argolikos had been issued an attestation by Bureau Veritas as well as a cargo ship safety equipment certificate, a complete crew list, and a certificate of competency for the Korean crew by the Busan (Korea) Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office.

SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga said the successful sea trial of the container carrier marks another milestone for SBMA as it sets its focus on the growing maritime service and logistics business. 

The Argolikos was to be the first of six container vessels lined up for delivery to Dioryx Maritime Corp. starting 2009, Salonga said.

The ship is named after Argolikos, a small gulf located at the east coast of Peloponnese, Greece, which opens into the Aegean Sea.

The shipbuilding industry here is now providing jobs to more than 20,000 Filipinos, including indirect hires, and is expected to generate some $2 billion to $3.5 billion worth of exports each year, he said.

Salonga said Subic is now pushing hard toward the goal of building the largest container ship in the world, with a gross tonnage of more or less 100,000 tons.