CEBU CITY – Local officials welcomed the opening of the first-ever ship-building and ship repair facility in Bohol province.
THE sprawling Artemis Marine and Industrial Construction Inc. (AMICI) ship-building facility in Barangay Cruz, Buenavista town, Bohol province was inaugurated on Tuesday, November 28. (Calvin D. Cordova)
Situated in a 19-hectare lot in Barangay Cruz, Buenavista town, the Artemis Marine and Industrial Construction Inc. (AMICI) ship-building and ship repair facility was inaugurated on Tuesday, November 28.
The inauguration was attended by Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado, Buenavista Mayor Dave Duallo, AMICI General Manager Alvin Basal; William Christopher Liu, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Primary Group of Builders (PGB), and Maritime Industry Authority-Central Visayas Regional Director Emmanuel Carpio.
AMICI was established by PGB in 2018 and its development started in 2019.
To bridge the manpower gap, the technical-vocational institute established by PGB, the School of Knowledge for Industrial Labor, Leadership, and Service (SKILLS), inaugurated a Bohol branch to help develop skilled workers.
According to Duallo, the facility has at least 400 workers and 80 percent of them are from Buenavista.
“This is a game-changer. It changed lives. They hired out-of-school youths. One good thing about AMICI is it is a labor intensive investment. They are not after profit only, they are for inclusive growth of the community,” said Duallo.
Buenavista is one of the local government units in Bohol that needs more help in terms of economic development.
Aumentado said the arrival of the facility is a major economic boost in the town.
“This facility will serve as a gateway that will help make Buenavista an economic zone. Cebu is already congested and we want to invite investors to come to Bohol. We are very thankful to AMICI for really pushing for this development,” said Aumentado.
AMICI is also licensed to build ships but it will focus more on ship repair, Basal said.
Basal said AMICI will amplify the maritime industry, noting that there are not enough shipyards.
The lack of shipyards was heavily felt when typhoon “Odette” struck in 2021, said Basal.
“We don’t have enough shipyards. You have to line up. We’re adding vessels but no one is adding shipyards. We need to create our shipyard not just for our ships but for the whole shipping industry,” Basal said.
AMICI can accept 12 ships at a time, Basal said. “This will really solve the problems in dry-docking.”
Its advanced facility features an impressive capacity of a big-scale transfer technology designed with a simultaneous dry-dock capacity of 12 100-meter length ships expandable through side ward railways extension.
The facility is primed for future growth, with plans underway to extend its capacity to accommodate up to 20 ships.
Aside from amplifying the country’s shipping industry, it is the potential development that AMICI brings to Buenavista that makes its top honcho “happy and proud.”
“We’re here to inspire, we’re here to give people hope. We are happy and proud to provide employment in Buenavista,” said Liu.