Harbor Star acquires energy company

HARBOR STAR Shipping Services, Inc. is marking its entry into the power sector with the acquisition of a 60% stake in an energy firm with interests in Mindanao.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday, the listed tugboat and cargo vessel company said its wholly owned subsidiary Harbor Star Energy Corp. ( HSEC) has acquired a combination of primary and secondary shares in Astronergy Development Gensan, Inc. ( ADGI), Astronergy Development F1, Inc., and Astronergy F2, Inc. Together, these firms form ADI Companies.

The ADI Companies are currently constructing a 25 megawatt (MW) solar power plant, expandable to up to 75 MW, in General Santos City. The plant is set to be completed by the second quarter of 2018.

The project forms part of a long-term land lease with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. ADGI already has a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the local electric distribution utility, South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative, Inc. ( SOCOTECO-II), approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

With this, SOCOTECO-II will be buying all the energy output from ADI Companies’ solar plant.

Incorporated in 1988 originally as Seatows, Inc., Harbor Star has since increased its presence both locally and internationally. By 2016, the company had a total of 15 base ports across the country, and services major ports such as the Manila International Container Terminal, and those in Bataan, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

The company’s fleet consists of 40 tugboats, five barges, a cargo vessel, an oil spill response vessel, and an anchor handling tug supply vessel.

Shares in Harbor Star soared 17.89% or 39 centavos to close at P2.57 apiece at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday. —