New Marina In Manila Bay?
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Photo courtesy Martyn Willes
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Could there soon be a new marina in Manila Bay? Newspaper reports in the Manila Standard (19th November) suggest that there are plans afoot to build a new marina in Manila Bay, near the SM Mall of Asia site, along the waterfront in Pasay City. The new marina will also, it is reported, be offering pleasure boats on a timeshare basis.
A new marina is desperately needed in Manila Bay, most especially because of the stranglehold that the incumbent Manila Yacht Club has on safely parking a boat and on the sport of sailing in general in Manila Bay . . . a sport that the Manila Yacht Club appears to have been actively foregoing during the past year, in pursuit of alternative objectives.
If the newspaper reports are correct there may even be a window open for MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority) to finally recognize pleasure vessels as an easily (and legally) charterable commodity.
Yacht charter in the Philippines has been stymied by the lack of appropriate legislation from MARINA for as long as anyone can remember. The lack of yacht charter legislation has prevented the exploration of the Philippines by pleasure seeking yachtswo/men and has instead allowed Thailand and Malaysia to capture the bulk of this high value tourism sector. With the concept now offered of timeshare yachts the door appears to be open for the people with the right financial motivation to incentivize MARINA into action.
The project is still a couple of years away from completion but pictures like the one here may soon be a common addition to the pixelated albums of many more visitors to the Philippines.
Links:
Manila Bay South webcam