ATI says Manila South Harbor ready for Christmas cargo rush

The Manila South Harbor, which serves as one of two major international trade gateways into Metro Manila, is ready and capable of handling the influx of cargoes with the onset of the Holiday peak months, according to its operator, Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI).

“Berth and yard operations are at normal levels. We are ready for the Christmas cargo rush and we are working closely with the Philippine Ports Authority, the Bureau of Customs and other stakeholders to sustain healthy port operations,” says ATI executive vice president William Khoury.

The fourth quarter is typically a peak season for shipment with the influx of cargoes related to the Holidays and as manufacturers build-up inventories for the ensuing year.

As of press time, no vessels are waiting to dock at Manila South Harbor, with berth utilization at a healthy 50 percent. Crane production is averaging at least 25 moves per crane per hour while yard utilization averages 76 percent.

Another efficiency indicator according to ATI is the number of discharged containers from the vessels compared to those that go out the terminal.

On average, Manila South Harbor discharges around 1,400 teus (twentyfoot equivalent units) at quayside daily with even more containers going out of the terminal gates at 1,700 teus, indicative of the seamless cargo flow from the vessel, to the yard, up to the consignees’ factory doors.

A significant contributor to this is the Terminal Appointment Booking System (TABS), a web-based system institutionalized in 2015, which schedules the orderly pick-up and delivery of cargoes to and from the port 24/7.

With terminal transactions prebooked online, TABS has enabled truckers to pick-up containers from the port within an hour of gate entry, without causing heavy traffic along major road arteries and bottlenecks at terminal gates. (EVA)