SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The first ever ocean-going vessel to be constructed in the Subic Bay Freeport is now undergoing outfitting prior to its delivery to a Greek shipping company in June this year.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Feliciano Salonga said the vessel, which is worth US$60 million, was launched less than a year after Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines (HHIC-Phil) cut the steel used in building the ship at its Redondo Peninsula shipyard here.

“Other shipbuilders would have taken at least 18 months after cutting the steel, to launch the same size of ship,” Salonga added.

Salonga said the ship is temporarily named PN-001, but it will be formally named by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in June after completing its outfitting and sea trials.

After the naming ceremony, the ship will be delivered officially to its Greek owner, the Dioryx Maritime Corporation, he added.

Built in less than two years after the groundbreaking of the Hanjin shipyard, the ship is designed for an optimum speed of 24.5 knots, or more than 45 kph.

Salonga added that PN-001 will be the first of the 16 container vessels of similar specifications to be built by Hanjin in Subic.

With the price of US$60 million per ship, Salonga said the 16 ships ordered from Hanjin would cost a total of close to US$1 billion.

Salonga also said that since about 40% of ship costs is spent on manpower, this means that about US$400 million will go to salaries of workers at the Hanjin shipyard. “This is a huge contribution to the local economy,” he added.

Salonga also said the critics of the controversial Hanjin apartment complex being built in the former US Navy ammunition depot in the forest of the Subic Bay Freeport should realize Hanjin’s economic contribution.

Hanjin, which is one of the biggest shipbuilders in the world today, has invested about US$1.7 billion for its shipyard project here and now employs more than 5,000 workers, aside from those hired by its subcontractors.

Hanjin is also planning to build a bigger shipyard in Mindanao to accommodate more order for new ships, the company said earlier. (30)