PGMA leads christening of newly-built ship of Hanjin in Subic tomorrow

SUBIC, Zambales, July 4 (PNA) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be the guest of honor tomorrow at the “naming” ceremony of the first ever cargo-carrying vessel built by ship-building leader Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines (HHIC-Phil) in its sprawling ship building facility in the Redondo Peninsula here.

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

Joining the President for the christening ceremony will be: Trade Secretary Peter Favila, HHIC-Phil chairman Nam Ho Cho, HHIC-Phil president Jeong Sup Shim, Sec. Edgardo Pamintuan of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development (SCAD), and Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) officials led by Feliciano Salonga, Administrator Armand Arreza and Korean Ambassador Jong Ki Hong and Greek Ambassador to the Philippines Georges Chrysostomos Nicolaidis are also expected to attend the ceremony.

Hanjin officials said the M/V Argolikos, which has a market price of about US$ 60 million, weighs 41,000 tons, has a length of 258.9 meters, a width of 32 meters, a height of 19 meters, and a speed of 24.6 knots.

It successfully underwent the required sea trials on May 27-29, and “performed well beyond expectations,” said Pyeong Jong Yu, head of HHIC-Phil’s Outside Business Department.

Yu also said that prior to the sea trial, the vessel has been issued an attestation from the Bureau Veritas, a vessel certification agency.

Hanjin has also secured for the ship a cargo ship safety equipment certificate, a complete crew list, and a certificate of competency for the Korean crew from the Busan Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office, Yu added.

Salonga, meanwhile, said that the MV Argolikos has made local maritime history when it was completed six months ahead of schedule after the keel was laid in September last year.

He added that while Cebu was ahead of Subic in shipbuilding, after its Japanese-owned shipyard in Balamban began building ships in 1994, the largest ships will be built in the Subic Bay Freeport.

“This is where big ships for exports to other countries will be made,” he said.

He added that HHIC-Phil is also eyeing the manufacture in Subic of some of the largest container ships in the world, with gross tonnage of more or less 100,000 tons.

After the naming ceremony, the 41,000-ton carrier will be delivered to its Greek owner, the Dioryx Maritime Corporation, which has five more units of container vessels lined up for delivery starting 2009.