Cargo owners urged to work double time

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is asking importers and cargo owners to withdraw their cargoes early and, if possible, at double the current volume, to ease expected congestion during the peak Christmas holidays.

PPA said in a statement Tuesday that the 10-day holiday from Dec. 24 to 28 and from Dec. 30 this year to Jan. 4 next year “will definitely clog the ports with incoming import cargoes and could bring yard utilization back to near congestion level.”

“Our port operators will be operating 24/7 except New Year’s Day as vessels continue to come in even during this holiday season,” PPA general manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said in the statement.

“The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is likewise crafting operational measures to guarantee that they can clear cargoes even during the holidays,” he said.

“I am urging all our importers, brokers, truckers, freight forwarders, cargo owners and other right holders to withdraw their cargoes early or double their volume withdrawals as a pre-emptive measure against a potential congestion brought about by the holidays,” he said.

As of the moment, the combined yard utilization at the two Manila ports—composed of the Manila International Container Terminal and the Manila South Harbor—already went down to 81 percent or just above the 80 percent target yard utilization level set by the Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion.

Toward the end of November, the yard utilization level even breached the target level after it went down to 78 percent, the PPA said.

Currently, the PPA, along with the Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion headed by Secretary to the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras, continues to negotiate with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Metro Manila Council to allow trucks to ply the Roxas Boulevard area beyond Dec. 22.

Starting Dec. 17, MMDA will again allow trucks to ply Roxas Blvd. from midnight to 5 a.m. but only until Dec. 22.

On Dec. 3, MMDA imposed a total truck ban along Roxas Blvd. to give way to the holidays and the papal visit set for next month.

As a result, combined container gate outs from the two Manila Ports declined by at least 10 percent from an average of 7,000 twenty-foot equivalent units from Monday to Friday to an average of 6,200 TEUs, the PPA said.