Subic Bay News

Marilyn Hubalde still remembers the first time she heard the thunderous chop of military helicopters swooping over this northernmost outpost of the Philippines, less than 90 miles from Taiwan. It was April 2023, when Filipino and American troops descended on the cluster of 10 emerald green islands of Batanes province for amphibious warfare drills.“We were terrified,” the 65-year-old Hubalde recalled. “We thought China might attack when they learned there were military exercises in Batanes.” Hubalde’s helper…

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) has conducted a steel cutting ceremony for a 115,000-ton product tanker at the HD Hyundai Philippines Shipyard in Subic Bay, Philippines.The vessel is the first ship built by HD Hyundai Philippines and is the first in a series of four vessels ordered from an Asian shipping company in December last year.Last May, HD KSOE signed a lease agreement with Cerberus Capital for a portion of the Philippine shipyard site, marking the…

Cerberus Capital Management has entered a strategic partnership with HD Hyundai to launch a new maritime investment strategy, Cerberus Maritime.Cerberus Maritime is aligned with the U.S. Government’s initiative to revitalize the maritime capabilities of the United States and allied nations. The strategy aims to identify high-impact opportunities that strengthen strategic maritime infrastructure and supply chains, maritime logistics infrastructure, port modernization, and advanced maritime technologies. The strategy will have a particular focus on U.S.

The Philippine Navy said a Chinese aircraft carrier battle group had passed near its northern maritime boundaries in the run-up to a six-day maritime exercise with the U.S. that began on Thursday as part of their annual Balikatan military drills.The coordinated naval drills, focused on enhancing interoperability, maritime domain awareness, and regional security, would be carried out within Philippine waters, spanning from the vicinity of Subic Bay up to the Northern Luzon, the Philippine military said.Japan and other regional partners are increasingly taking part in Balikatan, which means "shoulder-to-shoulder," amid tensions with China over its activities in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

The Philippines is exploring the possibility of converting two islands that were once part of a U.S. navy base into a military reservation, its defence department said on Thursday, a move to bolster its presence in waters facing the South China Sea.Grande and Chiquita islands are located in Subic Bay, which was once a sprawling U.S. base until the Philippines rejected a lease extension in 1991. The U.S. military pulled out a year later and the strategically located facility has…

Cerberus Capital Management agreed to lease part of its 350-hectare Philippine shipyard in Subic Bay to HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, which plans to build a facility there to manufacture offshore wind platforms.The shipyard was run by Hanjin Philippines before it defaulted on loans worth $1.3B in 2019.

U.S. private equity firm Cerberus will acquire for $300 million a debt-laden shipyard in the Philippines at a former U.S. navy base close to the South China Sea, the facility's trustee and two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.The fate of the strategically located Subic Bay shipyard has been a national security concern for defense chiefs, with fears it could be taken over by state-run firms from China, with which the Philippines has a long history of mistrust.In 2019…

Swiss based marine engine technology developer WinGD has expanded its global training network through a partnership with DCS POWER PTE LTD in Singapore to deliver training for optimizing engine performance and preparing crews for the fuels of the future.Located in Singapore, the new training partnership was commemorated on February 22. Preparing crews for the new future-fuel ready vessels will be delivered through a variety of both virtual and classroom-based training courses.

Philippine creditors are close to selling a strategically located but debt-laden shipyard north of the capital Manila, government officials said on Tuesday, with a North American company cited as being an investor in the deal.Hanjin Philippines, a unit of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd, in 2019 defaulted on $1.3 billion in loans, of which $900 million is owed to South Korean banks and the rest to five Philippine lenders.Talks with investors were almost complete…

Danaos Corporation on Wednesday announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire six secondhand 5,466 TEU container vessels en bloc for $260 million.The vessels, which have an average age of 6.8 years, were built at Hanjin Subic Bay shipyard and are on time charter contracts with a weighted average charter duration of approximately two years.The acquired vessels, which are expected to be gradually delivered to the company by the end of the third quarter of 2021, are eco-design wide beam vessels with improved fuel consumption and load efficiency characteristics when compared to conventional designs, the company said.The acquisition…

The loss of a towline shackle pin and deteriorated watertight fittings caused a towing vessel to sink in the Pacific Ocean about 800 miles northwest of Guam, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed in a Marine Accident Brief on Thursday.The 114-foot-long U.S.-flagged tugboat Mangilao sank on August 5, 2019 while being towed to a drydock in Subic Bay, Philippines by the 97-foot U.S.-flagged tug Chamorro. Both vessels were owned and operated by Cabras Marine Corporation.

Australian shipbuilder Austal Ltd and U.S. private equity firm are considering a joint bid for a strategically located but debt-laden Philippine shipyard, the facility's trustee said on Wednesday.Hanjin Philippines, a unit of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd, in January defaulted on $1.3 billion in loans, of which $900 million is owed to South Korean banks and the rest to five Philippine lenders.Austal and Cerberus are interested in the distressed shipyard…

The global port management company International Container Terminal Services Inc.(ICTSI) said yard utilization at its Manila port dropped 58 percent in June despite a series of holiday periods and low trucking activity.The Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), ICTSI flagship, recorded the drop in utilization rates despite recording its all-time highest throughput over a four-month period.Philippines-headquartered port and terminal operator said that this follows the 70 percent utilization rate recorded in April, down 20 percent from 90 percent in January after private sector partners and  the government signed a manifesto last March calling for the efficient utilization of container terminals.

All offers from potential buyers of a strategically located but debt-laden Philippine shipyard will be welcome, the trade minister said on Thursday, ruling out barring Chinese firms over national security fears.Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the government would not, and could not, block interested buyers of distressed shipbuilder Hanjin Philippines, which defaulted on $1.3 billion in loans, of which $900 million is owed to South Korean banks and the rest to five Philippine lenders.Hanjin, a unit of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co Ltd, until recently employed 20,000 workers at its yard in Subic Bay, which until 1992 was home to a U.S.

The troubled South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co said that it has reached an agreement with Philippine banks on debt-rescheduling for its Philippine affiliate HHIC-Phil, Southeast Asia’s largest shipyard by area size.Philippine creditors agreed to acquire shares of Hanjin Heavy, HHIC-Phil Inc., which operates the yard in Subic Bay, in return for solving surely obligations. This means the scheme includes a debt-for-equity swap with Philippine lenders, it added.Hanjin said the deal would be submitted to a Philippine court by the end of this month. HHIC-Phil, a debt-stricken shipyard in Subic, has applied for a rehabilitation program.Nikkei quoted HHIC saying that Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation…

Two Chinese shipbuilding companies have expressed intent to invest in the largest Philippine shipyard, debt-riddled Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines, the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) said.Drowning in debt,  the Philippine business of the Hanjin Group of South Korea, has asked the government for help in search of an investor who would take over the business and save the troubled shipbuilder.Philippines Rodrigo Duterte administration has stepped in to help save the troubled investor in Subic.According to local media reports, which quoted Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo, two Chinese firms contacted the Board.“They’re interested in the shipbuilding industry in general ...

Wärtsilä will provide an integrated cargo handling and fuel gas system for two new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers for Belgium-based owner Exmar. The 80,000m³ very large gas carriers are being built at HHIC-Philippines (Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines) in Subic Bay, and will be the first vessels capable of running on LPG, according to Wärtsilä, who secured the order in July 2018.Wärtsilä, which offers ‘LPG as fuel’ as a fully integrated part of the cargo handling system…

French shipping group CMA CGM inaugurated its new flagship vessel 20,600 TEU-containership CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery in Le Havre, France.Two French ministers, Bruno Lemaire (Economy) and Elisabeth Borne (Transport) were present for the event.Delivered last January 26 by Philippine shipyard Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines of Subic Bay, the vessel is one of the largest container ships in the world. At 400-meters long by 59-meter wide, the vessel has the capacity to carry 20,600 twenty-foot containers.CMA CGM Antoine De Saint Exupery is equipped with environmental technologies such as a Becker Twisted Fin, which helps reduce in CO2 emissions by as much as 4%…

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

Two very large gas carrier (VLGC) newbuildings being constructed for Belgian owner EXMAR will be equipped with main engines that will use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel.   Both vessels will be constructed by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction at its Subic Bay shipyard in the Philippines for delivery within the third quarter of 2020.   The MAN Diesel & Turbo engines will use part of the onboard LPG cargo for the vessels’ propulsion.   EXMAR has contracted the vessels to serve long-term commitments with Statoil ASA of Norway for worldwide LPG transportation.

U.S. warship USS John S. McCain, which was involved in a collision with a cargo ship east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in August, has arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka for repair. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer DDG 56 arrived in Tokyo Bay aboard heavy lift transport vessel MV Treasure on December 5, and arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka on December 13 following several days of preparations. The vessel will be repaired by U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility-Japan Regional Maintenance Center in Yokosuka before returning to service in U.S. 7th Fleet.

U.S. warship USS John S. McCain, which was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore in August, has departed Subic Bay, Philippines aboard heavy lift transport vessel MV Treasure en route to Fleet Activities Yokosuka for reapir. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) was diverted to Subic Bay October 22, due to poor weather conditions and to repair cracks in the ship's hull discovered after the ship departed Singapore aboard MV Treasure, the Navy said.

The recent visit to the Philippines, by two Australian Navy ships of the Indo-Pacific Task Group has significantly reinforced the strong defence relationship between Australia and the archipelago. Led by HMAS Adelaide in company with HMAS Darwin, both ships were welcomed to the Port of Manila by the Philippines Navy for a full day of engagements including the visit by the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Australian Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin. The Task Group later sailed to Subic Bay for a four-day visit, where both ships received over several hundred visitors eager to view the new capabilities the Australian Defence Force had on offer.