PPA chief: Manila ports to be fully decongested early 2015

MANILA, Philippines – The government gave assurances on Monday, December 15, that the Manila ports will be fully decongested by early 2015.

The government and the private sector need to clear only about 1% of its current cargo volume to breach the 80% target level, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) general manager Juan Sta Ana said.

The Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion (CCPC) has set a yard utilization target of 80% or approximately 65,200 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Yard utilization level at the ports of Manila also went down to 78% in end-November but climbed above the 80% target level due to the holiday season.

The cargo volume spiked to more than 100% after the Manila city government imposed a truck ban in February.

The decongestion efforts being enforced in the last couple of months are already paying off, Sta Ana said.

“If we can sustain such efforts in the next couple of months, we will hit our target to fully decongest the ports by early next year,” he said.

As of December 12, the combined yard utilization of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) of the International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI) and the Manila South Harbor of Asian Terminals Incorporated (ATI) stood at 81% or approximately 66,000 TEUs as of December 12.

Yard utilization of MICT hit 84% or approximately 42,400 TEUs.

South Harbor has a utilization of 77% or about 23,800 TEUs.

The number of vessels at queue was reduced to a combined total of 16 vessels, excluding those at berth, from from a high of 30 a couple of weeks ago, Sta Ana reported.

MICT has 6 vessels at berth, with 12 vessels at queue.  ATI has 4 vessels at berth and 4 at queue.

To date, combined container gate outs from the two Manila ports declined by at least 10% to an average of 6,200 TEUs from an average of 7,000 TEUs. This was after the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) imposed a total truck ban along Roxas Boulevard starting December 3 to give way to the Christmas holidays and the Papal visit set for January.

The MMDA agreed to allow trucks to ply Roxas Boulevard from midnight to 5 am from December 17 to 22.

According to Sta Ana, Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras is negotiating with the MMDA and the Metro Manila Council to allow trucks to ply the Roxas Boulevard area beyond December 22.

“We are making all measures work, that is why we are adjusting almost everything. With these, we are banking on the private sector to do their share,” Sta. Ana said. – Rappler.com