Tugboat Operator Expands to Indonesia

Tugboat operator Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc. eyes to double to 40 percent the contribution of its overseas operation to its revenues in the next five years as the company works to be a Southeast Asian operator.

The company is currently firming up a contract that will allow it to be active in Indonesia, complementing its current Malaysia operation.

“Well, there is some plan to almost double it in the next five years if we can. The target is to be a regional player in the Southeast Asian region,” said Geronimo Bella Jr., Harbor Star president, at the sidelines of the company’s stockholders meeting.

“There’s a potential to grow the business overseas… in the (other) third world countries like Vietnam, Indonesia. Indonesia is (composed of) 17,000 islands. It’s an archipelago. That’s what we’re looking into,” Bella added.

Harbor Star derives most of its revenues from five main service lines – harbor assistance, lighterage, towing, salvage and other marine service and ship and crew management – with lighterage comprising the bulk of the business.

Its other businesses include wreck removal, firefighting, oil spill abatement and recovery, handling hazardous chemical, ship management, diving and underwater service.

The company provides service through its fleet of 35 domestically and internationally classed tug boats, four barges, a cargo vessel, an oil spill response vessel and an anchor handling tug supply vessel.

Harbor Star has operations in 13 base ports nationwide, providing services to approximately 5,214 ship calls as of end-2014, with major ports serviced include Manila International Container Terminal, Bataan, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, comprising 80 percent of total revenues.

“The effects of the 2014 port congestion will still be felt as shipping lines calling the Philippines have reduced their scheduled voyages. Nevertheless, we see our harbor assist business to expand as we look to enter other markets such as General Santos and Cebu. We are also upbeat in finally penetrating overseas markets specifically in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam,” said Bella.

In Malaysia, Harbor Star is on a trial run in the port of Eastern Peninsular Malaysia.