THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) urged Thursday all cargo owners to plan ahead the withdrawal and deposit of their cargoes to and from the Manila ports as the country hosts the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Meetings this November.
The state-owned agency said that tight security is expected to be implemented along Roxas Boulevard and nearby areas in Manila and Pasay cities due to the attendance of Asean leaders and other dialogue partners, such as United States President Donald Trump, during the Asean events on November 10-14.
If the cargo owners would make their plans, this would "reduce any commercial delays" in the transport of cargoes, PPA said.
But the PPA assured that the Asean events are not expected to make a significant dent in congesting Manila ports as Christmas cargoes start to come in.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), the Manila South Harbor (MSH) and the Manila North Port (MNP) are ready for Christmas cargoes.
"As of the moment, the combined yard utilization at the two international Manila ports MICT and MSH are at 60.12 percent or about 20 percent below the optimum level of 80 percent," Santiago stressed.
He said CICT and MSH posted at least a 10 percent increase in their respective productivity as of end September.
"The premier domestic terminal, the MNP, has a yard utilization rate of 43.40 percent, giving the port enough elbow room for the anticipated increase in demand at this point in time," Santiago added.
"With a combined average quay crane productivity of the three terminals at 26 moves per hour per crane, barring any major development, we can guarantee a congestion-free Manila ports at any given time," Santiago said.
The 60.12 percent utilization rate, meanwhile, represents that some 48,900 containers are inside terminal while 32,600 container slots remain vacant. With container gate-outs almost reaching 8,000 container outs per day, the utilization rate is expected to hover around the 55-60 percent utilization rate until after the Christmas season, he said. (SDR/SunStar Philippines)