THE Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) may not handle
cargoes except from Phividec Industrial Estate-Misamis
Oriental (PIE-MO) locators.
This after the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Cagayan
de Oro last week denied the terminal's appeal to reverse
an earlier temporary restraining order (TRO) on its
operations.
A May 11, 2004 ruling by Judge Downey C. Valdevilla
(RTC Branch 39 of Cagayan de Oro City) upheld the TRO
initially granted on April 27, 2004 which limits the
Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) - operator of the
MCT - to handling cargo for locators in PIE-MO area.
The court cited the contention of plaintiff Oroport
Cargo Handling Services, Inc. (OroPort) that the MCT
has no commercial permit from the Philippine Ports Authority
(PPA). "Before operating as a public utility (port or
terminal operator, cargo handling contractor), they
should properly be authorized by the proper regulating
body as cargo handling is a regulated activity.
As they have none, then their endeavors should be limited
to cargoes of their own locators at the industrialestate,"
it said. OroPort is the cargo handling operator at nearby
Cagayan de Oro port.
"The question is are they entitled to service third-party
cargoes despite the absence of a commercial license
from the PPA? We are not really after closing the operation
of the port entirely.
We just want everything to be fair," Oroport Corporate
Planning head Noel Tan told PortCalls in a telephone
interview. Tan said Oroport has earmarked a total investment
of P470 million for the Port of Cagayan de Oro, of which
P111 million has already been spent in the last two
years.
This year, it will shell out P83 million and in 2005,
P44 million. "We are investing a lot of money to service
the liners better.
We think it is unfair for PIA to just take away 20-25%
or up to 40% of our existing market in the nearby provinces
including Davao, General Santos City, Bukidnon, Lanao
and Iligan," he said.
The court also agreed with OroPorts's observation
that "the unlawful activity of the defendants in operating
the MCT way below recommended tariff rates as well as
its commercial operation by accepting third-party cargoes
constitutes an unlawful deprivation of property which
(will) surely lead to the downfall of OroPort resulting
in grave and irreparable injury not only to the plaintiff,
its employees, the local governments but also the National
Government itself where the plaintiff is dutifully paying
the government's share of its revenues."
For his part, PIA Corporate Planning & Business Development
manager Dante F. Clarito said the MCT, endorsed by the
National Economic Development Authority, is designed
as an international port to complement the Port of Cagayan
de Oro.
There are about 30 locators in the PIE-MO. A few investments
are also lined up for the year, including $300 million
from Steag Power Corp. now undergoing construction;
P1 billion from San Miguel subsidiary Foods, Inc.; and
P854 million from Beverage Packaging Plant, Inc. At
the time of its inauguration in end-April, the MCT was
servicing about five vessels from Maersk Sealand and
Goldlink Steamship.
With the TRO, the vessels now call the Cagayan de Oro
port. PIA had questioned the April 27, 2004 order, noting
that the court acted beyond its jurisdiction when it
issued the TRO. It said the power to issue a TRO "against
the government or any of its subdivisions, officials
or any person orn entity, whether public or private,
acting under the government's direction, is lodged exclusively
with the Supreme Court."
To this, the RTC judge said that the order does not
focus on restraining the operation of the government
project but making sure that it is legally operated.
Cost implications of
ISPS Code subject of PortCalls industry briefing
THE recent PortCalls-organized industry briefing
on the International Ship and Port Facility Security
(ISPS) Code provided delegates an in-depth understanding
of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) initiative
due to take effect on July 1, 2004, as well as its cost
implications on businesses.
Captains of the transport industry attended the half-day
event. The ISPS Code requires all ships and port facilities
that deal in international trade to establish security
plans approved by registered security organizations
by July 1.
Non-compliance will lead to ships being refused entry
in ports of IMO-member countries, causing delays in
shipments. Two Singapore-based experts were flown in
specifically for the briefing. Col. Michael Chen, CEO
of ST Education and Training Pte Ltd and consultant
of IMO, talked about the challenges of implementing
the Code.
He also presented a case study on the experience of
Singapore ports. Nick Sansom, managing director of Thomas
Miller (Southeast Asia), presented a paper on the business
risk and insurance impact of the Code.
They were joined by three experts from the Philippines.
Control Risks Group deputy Philippine manager Trevor
Smith helped detail a strategy for achieving ISPS Code
compliance while Major Loving Fetalvero, Jr., Port Police
Superintendent (Philippine Ports Authority) apprised
delegates of the status of preparations of Philippine
ports and terminals.
Atty. Gloria Bañas, Deputy Administrator for
Planning of the Maritime Industry Administration, assured
participants that Philippine-registered vessels will
be ready for the Code. The briefing was co-presented
by Harbour Centre, International Container Terminal
Services, Inc., and Eastern Telecoms.
The half-day briefing was
attended by captains of the transport industry
Tito Osias (left), master
of ceremony, with industry briefing speakers
(from left) Control Risks Phils. deputy
country manager Trevor Smith, MARINA deputy
administrator for planning Atty. Gloria J. Victoria-Bañas,
IMO consultant Col. Michael Chen, and Thomas
Miller (Southeast Asia) MD Nick Sansom
Ferdie Inacay, South Cotabato Integrated
Port Services, Inc. terminal manager (left),
with (L to R) ATI marketing officer Jel Yulo,
ATI Batangas terminal manager Raffy Cosme, and
ATI safety manager Eric Diaz
Jeremy Rickcord (ATI EVP-CEO)
(left), with Atty. Rodolfo Corvite, Jr. (ATI
VP Admin and Legal Affairs), and Mark Ripka
(SVP-South Harbor Operations)
Phil. International Seafreight
Forwarders Association president Erich Lingad
(foreground) with Transmar Agencies Liner marketing
division manager Simon Santos, Jr., (middle)
and Soriamont Steamship EVP-general manager
Patrick Ronas
Industry briefing speaker
Major Loving Fetalvero, Jr. (left) and ICTSI
Port Facility security officer Raul Venturina
PortCalls columnist
and Portrade director Leo Morada (left) and
ATI VP for Information Technology Dodjie Simon
Harbour Center threatens
to sue PPA over failure to issue international permit
PRIVATE port operator Harbour Center Port and Terminals,
Inc. (HCPTI) is taking the Philippine Ports Authority
(PPA) to court for failing to respond to a request that
the company be allowed to handle international containerized
cargoes.
At present, the company is only allowed to handle domestic
containerized cargoes and international break bulk and
container cargoes limited to Harbour Centre locators.
In a letter to PPA general manager Alfonso Cusi dated
May 3, 2004, HCPTI chief executive officer Michael M.
Romero said the request has been pending in the port
agency long enough.
"While we are reluctant to do so, should we not receive
a response within seven days from your receipt hereof,
we shall be forced to take appropriate legal action
against the PPA and the officials responsible for such
inaction," he said.
The seven-day notice lapsed last Monday. Romero said
the company has conformed to PPA requirements, including
pouring in P1.5 billion in investments for equipment,
including acquisition of six rubber-tired gantries,
two quay cranes, ten tractor heads and ten forty-footer
container chassis.
This, he added, makes the company more than ready
to handle all types of cargoes. Located within the 79-hectare
Manila Harbour Centre, the port features deep berthing
drafts of -10.5 to -12 m.l.l.w., which the company claims
to be the widest and deepest among all ports in Manila.
The port can accommodate a total of 12 vessels at a
time, has a 15-hectare back up area with stacking capacity
of six twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) high, and
is capable of storing up to 500,000 containerized cargoes.
HCPTI is targeting revenues of around P150 million
to P200 million this year. For the first two months
of 2004, revenues amounted to P20 million.
ASIAN TERMINALS INC. (ATI) reported a 22% decline
in its first-quarter net operating income to P81 million
from P104.4 million during the same period last year.
The company said it was able to earn the amount despite
the relatively difficult business environment. Contributing
to this were the company's cost reduction and efficiency
improvement initiatives implemented during the quarter.
First-quarter consolidated revenues also fell 1.8%
from P899 million last year to P882 million this year.
A total of 160,651 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU)
were handled during the first three months of the year,
up 2.8% from 156,133 handled during the same period
last year.
South Harbor container traffic saw a year-on-year increase
of 2.6% to 157,525 TEUs from 153,541 TEUs, while Batangas
port's went up 20.6% to 3,126 TEUs from 2,592 TEUs.
However, the slowdown in construction projects pinned
down importations of raw materials particularly steel,
the prime commodity handled at the South Harbor General
Stevedoring Terminal.
At the Mariveles Grain Terminal, volumes handled during
the quarter were also lower due to higher costs of importation
brought about by the continued devaluation of the peso
vis-à-vis the US dollar. ATI said these prevailing trends
resulted in lower non-containerized volumes handled
by the company during the period - 1.62 million metric
tons (MMT) in 2003 to 1.46 MMT this year, down 9.5%.
The Eva Macapagal Super Terminal at the South Harbor
is expected to achieve full operations next month, and
will contribute substantially to revenues to be generated
for the balance of 2004.
Total capital investments for the quarter amounted
to P140 million.
HIGHER operating costs dragged Aboitiz Transport Services
Corp.'s net income by 13% last year.
The former WG&A said it generated a consolidated net
income after tax amounting to P359 million compared
with P413 million in 2002. "The company posted higher
consolidated net revenues in 2003 compared with the
previous year despite the general slow down in market
volume and reduction of ships in operation from 21 in
2002 to 19 in 2003," it said.
Last year, total revenues reached P7.7 billion, up
8% from P7.1 billion a year before. The increase resulted
from aggressive marketing efforts to promote the company's
higher-value passenger accommodations.
Passage revenue leaped from P3.4 billion in 2003 to
P3.6 billion last year. The freight business, on the
other hand, went up 7% to P4 billion from P3.75 billion
as the company started focusing on higher-yielding and
higher-paying cargo shipments last year.
Despite positive results in passage and freight, higher
operating costs - which accounted for 10% of gross revenue
- pulled down the shipping firm's net income. The company
said high operating costs were due to higher fuel costs
and expenses incurred for vessel upgrade and ship management
fees.
As of end-2003, Aboitiz Transport's assets were at
P9.5 billion, up 12% compared with the previous year's
P8.5 billion. This was attributed to the purchase of
two additional vessels, Superferry 17 and 18, the refurbishment
of ships, and purchase of new handling equipment to
support terminal operations.
The new vessels, each of which has a capacity for 2,000
passengers, 227 twenty-foot equivalent units and 60
vehicles, will be operational by the second quarter
of this year. The company said it aims to tap the global
market for its domestic shipping services this year.
As a first step, it has forged an alliance with Abacus
Network, allowing 10,600 travel agents all over Asia
to access online international passenger bookings.
Kuching Port Authority
launches web-based e-Port community portal
THE Kuching Port Authority (KPA) in the Malaysian
state of Sarawak launched recently its e-Port community
portal, a web-based facility that enables customers
to electronically submit port documentation requirements.
The portal was developed by Portrade dotcom Bhd, a
Malaysian technology solution provider specializing
in port management systems and listed in Malaysia's
technology stock exchange MESDAQ. Among the port documents
that can be electronically submitted are vessel arrival
notice, berthing application, and cargo manifest.
KPA Chairman Awang Bemee Ali Basah said the introduction
of the portal will improve vessel turnaround time at
the port as documents could now be submitted electronically
and processed promptly. He added that when fully developed,
the portal will enable payment of port bills to be made
online and shipping information to be shared with other
Malaysian government departments such as Customs, Marine
and Immigration.
Infrastructure Development and Communications Minister
for the state of Sarawak Datuk Wong Soon Koh, who launched
the portal, described it as a giant step taken by KPA
towards improving services to the shipper community.
"Through KPA's e-Port community application, port users
or ship owners do not have to physically come to KPA
to submit cargo and vessel documentation.
Similarly, shipping lines and agents at the port of
origin can streamline their documentation processes
by submitting shipping documents directly to KPA without
having to send them by mail or by hand through their
representatives," he said. The portal can be accessed
through KPA's website at www.kpa.gov.my
.
Port users who want to use the facility will have to
register with KPA to do so. Portrade dotcom Bhd is the
technology provider of Integrated Port Management System
(IPMS) for the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) in its
ongoing nationwide MIS computerization project.
It also installed and implemented the PPA e-Port facility
used by domestic shipping lines in Manila's North Harbor.
APL Logistics sweeps
Kellogg's "Top Gun" awards for logistics excellence
CALIFORNIA-BASED global supply-chain services provider
APL Logistics has received both of the "Top Gun" awards
given this year by the Kellogg Company.
"Top Gun" is the food-product manufacturer's highest
honor for dry distribution performance among the third-party
operators of its seven distribution centers in the United
States. APL Logistics has won each of the three awards
that have been presented since the award program began
in 2000.
Kellogg, with sales of nearly US$9 billion in 2003,
said APL Logistics "has swept the awards" for its timely,
accurate and efficient performance at Kellogg's facilities
in both Walnut (Los Angeles area) and Stockton, California
during 2003. These facilities, operated by APL Logistics,
distribute Kellogg's products throughout the Western
region.
"Because the satisfaction of our customers is so critical
to Kellogg, along with the efficiency of our distribution
operations," said Walt Lentz, Kellogg USA's vice president
for Logistics and Real Estate, "we especially value
the strong performance of APL Logistics."
APL Logistics CEO Hans Hickler noted that the two Kellogg
facilities operated by his company competed with five
other outsourced distribution centers across the United
States. "We are proud that our people excelled across
a broad range of key performance metrics such as on-time
loading; on-time delivery to the customer; dollar inventory
variance; customer-reported damage; transportation and
controllable fixed and variable costs; and overall productivity,"
he said.
Hickler also commended Kellogg for its comprehensive
"Top Gun" program that both evaluates and motivates
its logistics-management providers. During the past
12 months, APL Logistics managed more than 89 million
cases of inbound and outbound product for Kellogg, according
to Tim Erickson, APL Logistics' group general manager
for Kellogg.
He said APL Logistics' responsibilities include receiving
shipments from manufacturing facilities all over the
country; handling and storage, including product rotation,
display modeling, packaging, etc.; and order fulfillment.
He noted that the Walnut facility is currently relocating
to Fontana in Southern California, and the Stockton
facility will move this year to Tracy, which is in Central
California.
PPA to bid out 20 port
development projects this year
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will bid out
this year about 20 port development projects in various
parts of the country.
PPA assistant general manager for Engineering Medardo
M. Melicor said the port projects, which will total
a little more than P1 billion, will be carried out within
the next two years. "These include the development,
rehabilitation and construction of new ports in various
areas throughout the country, and also the development
of smaller ports to create commerce in far-flung areas,"
he noted.
The PPA has already invited bids for the construction
of three ports - Maasin in Leyte, San Juan in Batangas,
and Roxas in Southern Mindoro. The port of Roxas, which
is connected to the port of Caticlan, is one of the
strongest components of the Strong Republic Nautical
Highway (SRNH).
The project involves the widening of reinforced concrete
(R.C.) pier, construction of additional roll-on/roll-off
(ro-ro) ramp, fender block with breakwater and mooring
and fendering system. Melicor said the PPA expects to
complete the P32.41-million project within 240 calendar
days.
The port in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas is being constructed
in response to growing volume of cargoes in the area,
PPA said. The project will cover the construction of
a ro-ro ramp and access trestle, construction of breasting
dolphin, and installation of mooring and fendering system
and port lighting system.
The development will require about P45.48 million.
Target completion is within 330 days or 11 months.
The proposed port will link the island provinces of
Romblon (88.50 nautical miles from Romblon port), Marinduque
(28 nautical miles from Balanacan port) and Oriental
Mindoro (27.50 NM from Calapan port and 37 NM from Pola
port). Being only 115 NM from Caticlan, Malay, Aklan
and 161 NM from Masbate, Masbate, it will also be linked
to the SRNH in the Visayas and Mindanao.
"It will serve as transshipment port for passengers
and cargoes to and from the island provinces connected
to the SRNH and it is expected to be a potential tourist
port that will serve as jump off point for tourists
going to Romblon, Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro and Aklan,"
the PPA said. Meanwhile, the port of Maasin project
involves the reconstruction, widening and extension
of R.C. pier-breakwater and the installation of a mooring
and fendering system.
The P88.03-million project is expected to be completed
within a year.
