Asian Terminals Inc. said it is ready and capable of handling the influx of cargoes at the Manila South Harbor with the onset of the holiday peak months.
“Berth and yard operations are at normal levels. We are ready for the Christmas cargo rush and we are working closely with the Philippine Ports Authority, the Bureau of Customs and other stakeholders to sustain healthy port operations,” ATI executive vice president William Khoury, said.
The fourth quarter is typically a peak season for shipments with the influx of cargoes related to the holidays and as manufacturers build up inventories for the following year.
There are no vessels waiting to dock at Manila South Harbor, with berth utilization at a healthy 50 percent. Crane production is averaging at least 25 moves per crane per hour while yard utilization averages 76 percent.
Another efficiency indicator, according to ATI, is the number of discharged containers from the vessels compared with those that go out the terminal.
On average, Manila South Harbor on average discharges around 1,400 teus (twenty-foot equivalent units) at quayside daily with even more containers going out of the terminal gates at 1,700 teus, indicative of the seamless cargo flow from the vessel, to the yard, up to the consignees’ factory doors.
A significant contributor is the Terminal Appointment Booking System, a web-based system institutionalized in 2015, which schedules the orderly pick-up and delivery of cargoes to and from the port 24/7.
With terminal transactions pre-booked online, TABS has enabled truckers to pick up containers from the port within an hour of gate entry, without causing heavy traffic along major road arteries and bottlenecks at terminal gates.