New international shipping link news - Davao/General Santos Philippine cities to Tahuna/Bitung Indonesia

A group of traders from the Davao and General Santos cities, Philippines are prepared to go on a trade mission to Manado, North Sulwesi, Indonesia. This is in order to conclude the details of the Davao City/General Santos City to Tahuna/Bitung (Indonesia) shipping route services that would commence next month.

The Indonesia’s PT Kanaka shipping line of MV Beverly will depart from Bitung, Indonesia, on 18^th July for the prepositioning of container vans which will be utilised for shipping services. This is according to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) director of public affairs and investment promotions. The ship has a capacity of 120 twenty feet equivalent units or TEUs.

The maiden voyage was expected to depart from Bitung on 13^th June, to dock in General Santos City the following day, before arriving in Davao City on 16^th June 16. However, it was postponed due to the commodities details having yet to be finalised.

A maximum of 50 container vans will be prepositioned at the General Santos port on 19^th July, with a further 50 container vans at the Davao port on 20^th July.

The traders will visit Manado to meet their partners, finalising what products will be shipped, the volume, as well as trading frequency.

Whilst the majority of the goods to be shipped to Indonesia are food-related, there are also plans to ship alternative products such as cement and fertilisers.

The General Santos to Bitung route was selected to pilot the roll-on-roll-off (RoRo) operation within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Association of the South East Asian Nations Growth Area. Meanwhile, the operations of the Davao to Bitung RoRo service, is a private sector initiative.

On 11^th April, an agreement amongst PT Kanaka; North Minahasa Chamber of Commerce of Indonesia; the Philippines based cargo company, ARREE Freight Express; together with Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. formed the way for the shipping service. PT Kanaka will lead shipping as ARREE Freight Express will be responsible for the cargo consolidation requirements.

The agreement was earlier held back due to some Indonesian policy restrictions requiring declaration from Bitung port as an international port of entry before the beginning of the shipping services.

Strategically, the private sector contracted an Indonesian shipping line with a prospect that the Indonesian government may be more lenient in granting exit and entry approvals for their own shipping lines at Bitung. The service will use a conventional cargo vessel, at $550 per ton for shipping.

The route is anticipated to aid increased trade between Indonesia and the Philippines for a variety of goods and products including food items (including fruits, high value crops and meat), raw materials (including abaca, coffee beans and fishing supplies), construction materials (including cement and lumber), plus fertilisers.

This shipping initiative involving Mindanao and North Sulawesi, signifies efforts to enhance sub-regional links within the EAGA and intra-regional link of ASEAN, subsequently aiding trade, development, investment and tourism.

This route is strategic in market access for several viable Mindanao products in North Sulawesi and the rest of Indonesia. This is at the same time providing cost-efficient connections to Mindanao’s Indonesian imports.