Posted on February 12, 2015 10:30:00 PM
CONGESTION at the Port of Manila will be tailing off by the end of the month as container yard utilization and vessel waiting time continue to normalize, the chief of Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said on Thursday.
Based on the latest data from PPA, average yard utilization at the Manila ports as of Thursday, 7:00 a.m. is at 79% or the equivalent of about 64,300 twenty-foot equivalent units. This is a percentage point below the 80% considered optimal.
“Latest yard utilization continues to normalize… the container movements per hour is very normal. Yard utilization is normal. The situation outside the port — that’s the current problem,” Mr. Sta. Ana said.
Manila ports in January had movements of 18 per hour, slightly lower than the normal level of over 20. The all-time low was 10 moves an hour in April 2014.
“What I can tell is that all port indicators for efficient movement of cargoes are ready on the normal side. Can we already say there’s no port congestion? That I will need to defer that to the higher ups because there are the one to make that declaration,” Mr. Sta. Ana said.
Asked if he is confident that there will be no port congestion by second quarter of the year, he replied: “After this month, yes.”
For his part, Julianto G. Bucayan, Jr., Transportation undersecretary for Project Implementation and Special Concerns, told reporters: “As far as I know, we’re doing a lot better compared with last year” The level of congestion has significantly gone down. We’re going down to the normal level but considering that the mitigating measures are still there, then we expect it to improve a lot more.”
“To address port congestion…these measures are here to stay so that when all the factors that led to the congestion disappear the mitigating measures will remain,” Mr. Bucayan said. — Chrisee Jalyssa V. Dela Paz
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