Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Inc. of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy received an original proponent status from state-run Philippine Ports Authority on the P16-billion Sasa Port Modernization Project.
The grant of the OPS was contained in the the Certificate of Successful Negotiation dated August 19, 2019, following the successful negotiation on the scope and details of the project in accordance with government’s joint venture guidelines.
The 25-year joint venture agreement on the modernization of Davao Sasa Port will run in five phases, with phase 1 and phase 2 to be completed in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
The project aims to expand port capacity, improve the flow of waterborne commerce and inter-island seaborne commerce and foreign trades, and streamline, enhance and optimize port maintenance and operations.
It will also promote regional development through the dispersal of industries and commercial activities throughout the region.
Sasa Port is designed for break bulk cargo vessels. About 500,000 metric tons of steel, wheat, fertilizer, motor vehicles, heavy equipment and other cargo not suitable for containers went through Sasa Port in 2014, according to PPA data.
Davao Integrated Port and Stevedoring Services Corp., an operator at the Sasa port, said the current capacity of Sasa was about 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.
“We thank the PPA and the Department of Transportation for working closely with us in finalizing the requirements and design of this huge project. As a country’s shipping and logistics industry, Chelsea has been given the opportunity to further upgrade the supply chain management landscape of the country,” said Chelsea president and chief executive Chryss Alfonsus Damuy.
“We hope that through this port modernization, our mantra of “Better Shipping, Better Logistics, Better Life” will dominant player in the redound to the rest of the region,” he added.
After being granted the OPS, Chelsea’s proposal will be submitted to competitive challenge in accordance with the joint venture guidelines of the National Economic and Development Authority.