Manila port operators haul containers to Laguna

The Philippine Ports Authority and Manila port operators have decided to move Customs-cleared ready-to-go shipping containers to Laguna, apart from Subic Port, a statement on Thursday showed.

In making the decision to transfer the cargo to a 4-hectare facility in Cabuyao in Laguna starting Sept. 14, the PPA said it hoped to take advantage of free traffic.

Over the next four Sundays, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) and Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) will transfer the overstaying cargo out of Manila’s ports, the PPA said.

The first batch of overstaying containers totaling about 135 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) will be shipped out to Subic starting today. The next batch of the same number is scheduled for Tuesday, the PPA said, as it hoped for a weekly haul of 270 TEUs.

Both ICTSI and ATI, meanwhile, are mulling over plans to jointly charter a bigger capacity vessel to haul more containers out of the Port of Manila, which consists of Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and Manila South Harbor.

According to PPA general manager Juan C. Sta. Ana, the port operators are forced to relocate more containers to other areas, to the detriment of the consuming public, to free up space for incoming cargoes at Manila’s ports.

“We know that transferring cargoes outside of Manila will entail cost that will be passed on eventually to the consuming public,” Sta. Ana said. “However, we have to adopt such measure to guarantee that we have enough space for the incoming containers to reduce the pressure on inflation. As long as the City of Manila truck ban remains, major road arteries to warehouses are closed and the movements of trucks are restricted, we will be forced to relocate more cargoes wherein all costs relative to the transfer are passed on to consumers.”

Based on inventory, there are about 5,000 TEUs of overstaying Customs-cleared ready-to-go containers at MICT and Manila South Harbor.

Port operators have already identified all overstaying containers and plan to segregate them to Northbound and Southbound containers. The transfer of such containers will be on a ‘first in, first out’ basis, PPA noted.

All northbound overstaying containers will be ferried to Subic using the Supper Shuttle Service (S3) offered by ICTSI, while southbound containers will be transferred to Calamba in Laguna by truck.

Importers, brokers and cargo owners that have been affected by the transfer will still have to clear their cargo with Manila’s operators and, once all the cargo-handling fees and other charges have been settled, importers can pick up their cargo in an ‘as is, where is’ basis.

“We will continue with this initiative until we have met the desired number of containers in the two Manila ports, equivalent to 80-percent yard utilization,” Sta. Ana said.