Batangas port is also experiencing problems similar to those at Manila ports, according to a port executive.
Sean Perez, vice president of Batangas port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), told PortCalls in a chance interview that it is not that Batangas is also congested like Manila, but that it is being affected by factors that impact on its operations.
“The (Batangas) port is also a victim of this port congestion,” Perez pointed out.
“A port would operate efficiently but will be affected by other factors like, one, vessels out of window; two, the availability of trucks to pull out the cargo,” he explained, adding that these are the “same problems that they’re facing in Manila.”
Perez said Batangas also experiences the same issues with empty containers in Manila, where ATI also operates the Manila South Harbor.
“Empties are there, but they’re not loaded out,” which he said raises the yard utilization rate, and when utilization goes up “we cannot move around.”
PortCalls sources said that since Batangas is only added to shipping lines’ call after Manila, delays in berthing at Manila ports also means delays in calling at the Southern Luzon port.
Perez said ATI is working with shipping lines “to make sure that they come on schedule to be able to move out their boxes.”
Asked if there’s a need for more service providers (such as truckers), Perez said, “Not really more service providers. It’s just a matter of creating a turnaround (for) the containers.”
Current yard utilization at Batangas port is around 80%, with weekly volume for laden boxes averaging around 1,500 to 1,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), said Perez. The port’s static capacity is 7,152 TEUs.
The current volume is higher than the 200 to 300 weekly average recorded last year.
ATI earlier said Batangas port’s volume for the first six months of 2014 has already surpassed the full-year throughput of 11,019.5 TEUs in 2013.
Perez said Batangas port’s two quay cranes and four rubber-tired gantry cranes can handle the throughput of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) shippers, or at least for Labarzon “since Cavite is closer to Manila.”
He pointed out that the equipment is sufficient to handle 350,000 TEUs of annual traffic but when the need arises, “ATI will always look ahead of time and bring in additional equipment” and even land capacity.
Perez is optimistic there will be more callers, but reminded shipping lines that they should not shift to any other service or route “just overnight.”
Currently, Batangas has two direct callers—MCC Transport and NYK Line.
Ad-hoc callers include SITC, APL, RCL/PIL, and CMA CGM.
Domestic carrier 2Go also makes calls at the Southern Luzon port. – Text and photo by Roumina Pablo
