International shipping lines and port operators have agreed to send empty containers piling up at Manila ports to Subic port and other areas, including Batangas, in order to ease congestion spawned by the Manila truck ban.
In a press statement, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said that beginning August 10, empties will be transferred to among others, Subic Bay’s New Container Terminals (NCT) 1 and 2, operated by Subic Bay International Terminal Corp (SBITC), a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. ICTSI operates the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
PPA noted Manila ports are currently storing about 17,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of empty containers, generally regarded as one of the key contributors to port congestion.
In a July 7 meeting attended by representatives of government agencies PPA, the Bureau of Customs, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA); port operators ICTSI and Asian Terminals Inc; Association of International Shipping Lines; and Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP), foreign shipping lines agreed to send “sweepers” to the Port of Manila to ship out empties to Subic Bay port.
PPA said SBITC and ICTSI agreed to waive port fees, including stevedoring, lift on-lift off and hustling , on all shipping lines bringing their empties to Subic.
SBITC’s NCT 2, which covers a total of 28 hectares, has a four-hectare open space that can accommodate all 17,000 TEUs from Manila ports based on four-high stacking, according to company officials.
Officials of Evergreen were at the terminal on July 9 to survey the space.
NCT 1 is already storing some 800 40-footer empties of APL, Wan Hai and NYK, regular callers at Subic.
PPA said all parties are looking at directly sending empties originating from north of Manila to Subic instead of bringing them to Manila then sending them back to Subic via the sweepers.
Approximately 30% of cargoes passing through Manila ports are northbound, PPA said.
For its part, CTAP agreed to come out with a favorable fare matrix for this scheme. It should be noted that transportation of container vans via trucks is on account of importers, which are clients of truckers.
For southbound cargoes, particularly those for Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, PPA said empty containers will be directly transported to Batangas Port. On the other hand, empties to and from Cavite will be transported back to neighboring Manila.
For exporters needing boxes for shipments out of Manila, PPA said they can secure containers stored in Batangas or Subic.
Aside from Subic and Batangas as temporary empty container depots, PPA is also looking at tapping a 21-hectare property of ICTSI in Cabuyao, Laguna as a depository for empties.
In a press conference on July 9, Sta. Ana forecast that yard utilization at Manila ports will normalize within a month’s time if all agencies acted their part. “In about four weeks we’ll be back to normal,” Sta. Ana said.
He said “mitigating measures to decongest ports” are already being done but “needs a lot of cooperation from other government agencies and the private sector.”
Government recently formed an executive committee to act on measures to decongest Manila ports and monitor outcomes.
Sta. Ana said all indications point to the port of Manila on the way to normality.
He said yard utilization at MICT and South as of July 9 ranged from 90% to 94%, lower from the previous days’ 100% to 104%. – Roumina Pablo
