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Dredging at Cebu International Port will be completed by the third quarter of this year, according to port cargo handler Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp.
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When done, CIP will have a uniform draft of 12 meters from the current 8.5 meters at some parts
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Opascor hopes the improvement will help bring in bigger vessels and more cargoes
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Dredging began in December 2023
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An Opascor official said she hopes cargo volumes will improve this year after it slowed last year
Dredging at Cebu International Port (CIP) will be completed by the third quarter of this year, according to port cargo handler Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (Opascor).
Opascor in December 2023 started dredging the navigational area going to CIP because there are some parts that are shallow and are only around 8.5 meters deep, according to Opascor general manager Atty. Florimae Velasco in a presentation during the recent Philippine Ports and Logistics Conference and Exhibit.
Once dredging is done, CIP will have a uniform draft of 12 meters, allowing the terminal to handle bigger vessels and more cargoes.
CIP can presently accommodate two vessels at a time at its 624-meter long berth.
In order to further improve operations, Opascor acquired a new quay crane and two rubber-tired gantries that will arrive mid-April. These equipment will be in addition to CIP’s five quay cranes and 16 RTGs.
In an interview with PortCalls at the sidelines of the conference, Velasco said they are hoping that cargo volumes handled by CIP will improve this year after it slowed last year. She added that the terminal’s infrastructure “is ready to receive more volumes.”
According to data from the Cebu Port Authority, CIP handled 437,876 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2023, down 4.8% from the 459,821 TEUs recorded in 2022.
Nine foreign shipping lines call CIP, connecting the terminal to various ports such as in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. – Roumina Pablo
READ: Cebu international port sees 2.5% more containers in 2022
