TAIWAN's Evergreen Marine Corp is to commence its Korea-Taiwan-Philippines (KTP) service in Subic Bay Freeport that will call at International Container Terminal Services, Inc's (ICTSI) new container terminals 1 and 2, starting from April 19.
The addition of Subic to the rotation is expected to boost the growing markets in northern and central Luzon, which stand to benefit from the direct trade link to Korea and Taiwan, with transshipment also available for overseas cargo.
"Our inclusion in the KTP service is a clear indication that the markets of central and northern Luzon are growing, and will benefit from another large global carrier participating in this growth," explains general manager, Roberto Locsin, Subic Bay International Terminal Corp.
The port rotation for the weekly KTP is: Incheon, Kwangyang, Kaohsiung, Batangas, Subic, and back to Kaohsiung. The first Evergreen vessel under the KTP service is scheduled to make its maiden call to Subic on April 19.
In December 2016, the Taiwan Maritime and Port Bureau (TMPB) expressed an interest to partner with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to increase container transshipment traffic between the ports of Taiwan and Subic.
TMPB raised the possibility of a partnership during a port visit to Subic, which stemmed from SBMA's participation in the 22nd Philippines-Taiwan Joint Economic Conference last October in Taipei.
