ICTSI
aims to achieve early compliance to ISPS Code
THE country's biggest
port operator is aiming to achieve compliance to the
International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS)
Code way ahead of the July 2004 implementation deadline
set by the International Maritime Organization.
This development was
disclosed by Christian R. Gonzalez, International
Container Terminal Services, Incorporated (ICTSI)
Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) Operations
Manager/CFS and concurrent project manager for ISPS
Code implementation, in an interview with PortCalls.
ICTSI's timetable is to complete its Port Facility
Security Plan (PFSP) and submit it to the Philippine
Ports Authority by early part of the second quarter
this year. A port facility security officer will soon
be designated and port facility security assessment
will be undertaken with the assistance of a leading
international business risk consulting firm. All the
preparations will encompass ICTSI port operations
at MICT and Bauan International Port.
The PFSP, port facility
security officer and port facility security assessment
are all mandatory requirements specified in ISPS Code
Part A. According to Gonzalez, there are a number
of reasons why ICTSI will be able meet its timetable
for ISPS Code implementation. Since the company is
ISO 9002 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001 (Environment
Management System) certified, existing policies and
procedures related to port safety, security and environment
protection already constitute readily available documentation
on which security assessment can be based.
ICTSI also has strict
procedures for access control and perimeter fencing
and the existing close-circuit television system (CCTV)
facilitates monitoring of vital operational areas
within MICT. The results of port facility security
assessment are expected to highlight areas of improvement
for which additional investment on security technologies
and facilities may be required. Gonzalez emphasized
that ICTSI management realizes the benefits and value
to be derived from compliance to the new maritime
security standards stipulated in the ISPS Code.
Among these are the enhancement
of the level of professionalism in ICTSI port operations,
boosting its corporate image as leader in global port
management, and potential reduction in the company's
business risk liability.
Aviation
stakeholders push CAB to revise IRR draft on open
skies cargo policy
THE Civil Aeronautics
Board (CAB) will revise the draft Implementing Rules
and Regulations (IRR) for the open skies cargo policy
in Clark and Subic, following last week's public consultation
with aviation industry stakeholders.
CAB executive director
Tomas Mañalac said the agency will fine tune the draft
with respect to issues of reciprocity and validity,
the main concern of airlines. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
signed on December 3, 2003 Executive Order No. 253
which seeks to further liberalize civil aviation in
the Philippines specifically though the grant or enhancement
of certain air traffic rights to and from the Diosdado
Macapagal International Airport and Subic Bay International
Airport.
The order provides "the
authority to operate such route may be granted unilaterally
without any restriction or limitation on capacity,
type of aircraft and non-cabotage rights other than
those that may be required by considerations relating
to airport security and aviation safety." It also
denies local cargo carriers the right to demand reciprocity
from their foreign competitors and also sidesteps
the authority of the CAB to negotiate an air service
agreement with governments of foreign lines.
This issue is at the
heart of protests by airline representatives who attended
the public consultation. A Philippine Airlines representative
also questioned how an EO can be more important than
a legislative initiative, specifically Republic Acct
776 or the Civil Aeronautics Act. "This EO has gone
beyond constitutional powers... and has also become
ministerial," the PAL representative added. Carriers
also expressed disapproval over the unilateral nature
of the agreement. Mañalac, however, expressed hopes
that "when the time comes the country needs the same
[concessions] from other countries, they will give
it to us." Clark International Airport Corp. president
and chief executive officer Adelberto Yap said the
six-month operating period given to carriers as prescribed
in the draft IRR may discourage potential investors.
He suggested an operating permit should carry a minimum
of one year to give potential investors time to market
their services and recoup their investments. Mañalac
said CAB will form a technical working group composed
of one representative each from the private sector
to address carriers' concerns.
"We hope that through
this, we can reconcile and consolidate all the comments
and introduce to the IRR certain provisions which
will help it align to reciprocity most particularly,"
he said. - Maritess R. Mesias
India
offers 7 flights per week, third and fourth freedom
to RP in new air talks
INDIA is offering seven
flight frequencies per week to its four largest airports,
Mumbai, New Delhi, Calcutta and Madras, and third
and fourth freedom rights under the air services agreement
currently being negotiated with the Philippines. Third
and fourth freedom rights give Philippine-flag carriers
the privilege to bring down and take on passengers,
mail and cargo to and from India and the Philippines.
In turn, the Philippines
is disposed to grant the same privilege, Civil Aeronautics
Board executive director Tomas Mañalac told PortCalls.
"Seven flights a week is a good starting point," he
noted. Mañalac said the CAB will also try to get fifth
freedom rights to further expand international market
for local carriers. Fifth freedom allows a carrier
to take on and bring down passengers, mail and cargo
to and from the territory of any other contracting
state. Originally scheduled this month, the Philippine-India
talks will be moved to April or May.
As a result, air negotiations
with China will go first, on March 2 and 3, followed
by back-to-back talks with Laos and Cambodia. Philippine
Airlines once flew the Manila-Calcutta route in the
1940s.
Public
consultation yields no THC cost component breakdown
LAST week's public consultation
on the terminal handling charge (THC) facilitated
by the Philippine Shippers' Bureau (PSB) produced
no resolution over the charge's cost component breakdown.
China Shipping Manila Agency, Inc. general manager
Wilfredo M. Monillas, the sole representative of the
liner sector at the consultation, said local agents
are still waiting for a breakdown of cost components
from their overseas principals.
In the meantime, there
has been a lot of confusion surrounding the THC. Shippers
want an end to the charge or its reincorporation into
freight. The Federation of ASEAN Shippers Council
and the PSB in November last year secured a list of
THC components claimed by liner conferences and rate
discussion agreements. Upon study, PSB asserted that
"the components are either redundant" or a license
for double charging. There is also clamor from port
and terminal operators to rename the charge, which
they claim is a misnomer - since THC is not paid to
terminal operators but to shipping lines.
Monillas said shipping
lines are open to renaming the THC, but warned that
its elimination will require an increase in freight
to "acceptable" levels. PSB executive director Atty.
Pedro Vicente Mendoza noted that the Philippines is
the fourth highest THC-paying country in Asia with
an annual average rate increase of 8% from the Transpacific
Stabilization Agreement (TSA); 10% from Far Eastern
Freight Conference (FEFC); and 25% from Intra-Asia
Discussion Agreement (IADA). Hong Kong is presently
the highest THC-paying country, followed by Taiwan
and Indonesia. THC's last increase was in July 2002
with an increment of 18-20%. As of 2003, the total
THC cost averages $92.6 million per area.
Mendoza said it must
be established whether the THC is an ancillary or
a surcharge. "If it is an ancillary, it must form
part of the freight and if it is a surcharge, it must
be temporary," he noted. Philippine Ports Authority
(PPA) Port Marketing Division manager Gerry Tuguigui
said the group must recognize the thin line between
costs charged against the shipping line and costs
charged against the cargo. "The THC, during Customs'
time (1974), was basically a charge for servicing
the shipping lines' containers. That was part of the
charges assessed against the carriers.
The other two were stevedoring
[before containerization] and cranage. PPA then integrated
these charges into one. There was no explanation why
THC was retained as one separate charge and had been
a cost paid to the carriers," he explained. Tuguigui
said since carriers have a direct cost to transport,
there is a possibility of double charging. "It is
possible that the THC is aimed at covering shipping
companies' fluctuating costs to minimize the risk
of operational loss." Representatives from the country's
largest port operator, International Container Terminal
Services, Inc., said cargo handlers only bill carriers
stevedoring charges, and shippers arrastre charges,
in accordance with the PPA tariff. "It is the PPA
who details the nature of the services provided by
the carriers," they noted. The Distribution Management
Association of the Philippines (DMAP) and the Export
Development Council (EDC) were in agreement with the
PSB position. DMAP executive director Ed Sanchez said
DMAP's position is to either abolish the THC or re-incorporate
it into ocean freight. EDC Committee on Raw Materials
and Supply Chain chairman Meneleo Carlos, Jr. held
the same belief.
"We are in a very bad
position, especially with China having a tremendous
competitive element in the global trade," he noted.
- M. Mesias
The Maritime Industry
Authority (MARINA) is looking at a 20-year limit on
the age of second-hand vessels that may be acquired
or imported by local ship operators. The agency hopes
to come up with a circular on the policy by the first
quarter.
The plan is for a gradual
phaseout, much like the proposal for wooden-hulled
vessels, according to MARINA administrator Oscar M.
Sevilla. The regulation, which aims to minimize sea
disasters, will initially focus on passenger and combi
vessels. Freighters will eventually be subject to
the policy. Sevilla said tankers and high-speed craft
will also fall under the ruling, with 10 years eyed
as the limit for the former, and five for the latter.
At present, tanker ships average 15 years.
MARINA is presently
studying the costs associated with the new policy.
Sevilla said the agency has already prepared designs
for the ideal vessel model but admitted that "we have
yet to present this design to our ship operators and
other stakeholders. If it is applicable, then we will
circularize it." The average age of ships on the Philippine
fleet is 12 years. However, records show there are
ships constructed as far back as the mid '60s. The
oldest is about 40 years old.
Sevilla said smaller
vessels will also required to adhere to the policy,
noting many small shipping companies have old vessels.
"We really hope this policy will be well accepted,
especially with Japan being prohibited from selling
second-hand ships of more than 10 years of age," he
noted.
MV Enforcer, a newly built 750-TEU capacity container
vessel of French liner Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement
Compagnie Générale Maritime (CMA CGM),
recently made its maiden call at the Baltic Container
Terminal (BCT) in Gdynia, Poland.
The maiden call of the
MV Enforcer at BCT's Helskie I Quay last 17 January
marked the start of the vessel's regular once a week
call at the BCT. The vessel, chartered for the Hull-Hamburg-Gdynia
feeder service, is expected to carry 6,000 TEUs a
month.
To commemorate the maiden
call, BCT officials led by Andrzej Kujoth, Commercial
Director, and Julian Karaszewski, Managing Director,
presented a seascape painting commissioned by a local
artist to Capt. Bartholomeus G.M. Lautenschutz, MV
Enforcer Vessel Master. Janusz Parusinski, Port Office
Manager, witnessed the awarding ceremony.
CMA CGM is one of the
world's leading container line operators, which currently
operates about 55 different services worldwide among
which are intercontinental services with vessels up
to 8,000-TEU as well as regional feeder services.
Presently, CMA CGM has some
50 container feeder vessels of less then 1,000 TEU
capacities on time charter.
BCT, an affiliate of
Philippine based International Container Terminal
Services, Inc. (ICTSI), has been implementing plans
for major capacity expansion of the terminal entailing
some US$80 million in capital investments for equipment
purchases and facilities improvement.
