No port congestion this holiday season — PPA

The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) yesterday assured the public that the two premier ports in Manila are not experiencing any congestion this holiday season.

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago explained that the Christmas cargoes arrived early at the Port of Manila (POM) at South Harbor and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) at North Harbor, thus avoiding delays in the release of shipments.

He also said the “port utilization is doing well, the efficiency is doing good at this time.”

As of yesterday, the combined yard utilization of the POM and MICP was 60 percent, which is 20 percent below the optimum level of 80 percent, according to PPA figures.

The container yards are also still capable of making 25 moves per hour per crane.

“We are no longer expecting any port congestion… We have already made preparations; even the importers prepared early and all the cargoes that are intended for the Christmas holidays are already here,” Santiago said.

He admitted, however, that they are preparing for the next batch of import shipments, intended for the coming Chinese New Year on Feb. 16.

Meanwhile, the PPA official said Tropical Storm Urduja, which hit the country recently, only had minimal effect on the ports, except the port in Naval, Biliran which was hard hit by the storm that entered last week and left last Tuesday.

“The operations at the port in Naval, Biliran were affected, but the port itself was not damaged,” Santiago said.