Manila Port Decongestion in Overdrive

Manila Port Decongestion in Overdrive

The Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion (CCPC) in Philippines has shifted decongestion efforts at the Port of Manila into full gear, two weeks after the City of Manila lifted its truck ban.


The CCPC said port operations had significantly increased its efficiency and productivity which they had not been able to do during the implementation of the truck ban.

According to the cluster that also include the Philippine Ports Authority, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Metro Manila Development Authority, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, among others, that while yard utilization remains relatively high, productivity and efficiency are slowly getting back to normal in both Manila ports—composed of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Manila South Harbor (MSH).

“We have already posted a 25-30% increase in the movement of cargoes to and from the port since September 13,” CCPC Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said.

“The port operators are now working full-blast in its bid to reach the target yard utilization level in time for the expected influx of boxes brought about by the run-up to Christmas.

More shipping lines are also now using the port of Subic and Batangas after being declared as extensions of Manila, which we expect to facilitate the decongestion of the Manila ports.

With the imposition of the higher storage fee starting October 2, we expect to see further reduction of the volume of containers currently inside the two Manila ports.”

Currently, the two port operators are stepping up efforts in the relocation of Customs-cleared ready-to-go containers to Subic, Batangas and Cabuyao in Laguna after being slowed down by the twin typhoon that hit the Metro for two consecutive weekends in September.

Starting October 2, the Cabinet Cluster is imposing higher storage fee for Customs-cleared ready-to-go containers to discourage cargo-owners from using the terminals as their virtual warehouses, from the current USD 11.14 per TEU per day after the 5-day free storage period, to USD 111.4 after a 10-day free storage period.

“We continue to appeal to the public to remain considerate as we are already in our full-blast efforts in decongesting the ports. We guarantee that the benefits after decongesting our ports will outweigh all the inconveniences they encounter if we have a congested port,” Almendras said.

[mappress]
Press Release; October 06, 2014; Image: CGR