Shipping firms send ‘sweepers’ to clear ports

International carriers are set to send dedicated “sweepers” to move out their empty containers clogging the ports of Manila, the Philippine Ports Authority said in a statement.

PPA General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said the move of the shipping lines to send their sweepers would ease congestion at the Manila ports, specifically the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Manila South Harbor.

Sweepers are dedicated vessels sent by international carriers for a specific purpose, in this case, to load and move out empty containers at the ports of Manila to a specific destination at the expense of the shipping lines, PPA said.

Once the carriers clear out their containers at the Manila Ports, yard utilization is expected to drastically go down to 80 percent—considered as the optimum level on port efficiency and operations—from the current yard utilization of 96 percent, PPA said.

In May, yard utilization was at 110 percent, it said.

“This will be a very big boost to our mitigating measures in further decongesting the Manila ports,” Sta. Ana said in the statement.

“It is considered as a very huge step towards realizing our timeline to free up as much space as possible inside the ports prior to the expected surge in volume due to the run-up to Christmas,” he added.

Last week, the carriers led by the Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL), had its first sweeper clearing approximately a fifth of the estimated 17,000 to 22,000 “empties” occupying space at the Manila ports.

Over the next weeks, AISL along with members MOL, Pacific International Lines and Evergreen, are sending at least three more sweeper calls at the Manila Ports.

The first of the three is expected to call at Manila on Aug. 3 or 4 while the remaining two will happen on or before Aug. 15.

Meanwhile, recovery period from the congestion is pegged at three to four months, particularly with 12 cargo vessels still awaiting service from any of the two Manila port operators.

Waiting time for each vessel is from 5 to 10 days, still due to congestion.

“Measures are slowly being put into place and before we know it, we will be back to normal. I am encouraging all concerned to give extra more effort and patience as the positive effects of the measures take time before they trickle down to the end user,” Sta. Ana said.