Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu) Inc. (THI) will expand its shipyard in Balamban this year by another 30 hectares to provide for additional slipway and building dock, according to Tereso Panga, director-general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
Panga said this will increase THI’s output to six more vessels from its current 24 vessels per year.
Panga said Tsuneishi president Yasuaki Seto disclosed this during his visit in the company’s shipbuilding facility located at the 500-hectare Aboitiz West Cebu Estate last August 28.
Panga said THI will also produce in the country the first of its kind methanol-fueled bulk carrier vessels. He said the company received orders for seven new Kamsarmax, the world’s first methanol-fueled bulk carrier.
THI–one of the biggest shipbuilders in Japan and a prominent player in the global shipping industry – has been a PEZA locator since 1998.
In its 29-year operations in the Philippines, the company has seen four expansions since it started its shipbuilding business in Balamban, Cebu, growing from a modest 25-hectare footprint to now having a 170-hectare-proclaimed area.
Through its 147-hectare ecozone in Balamban, THI has injected more than P12 billion investments and directly employed more than 12,000 Filipino workers (inclusive of subsidiary companies).
