Facilities break mid-year container volume targets
Manila South Harbor and Batangas Container Terminal (BCT) are performing at optimum production and utilization levels, ready for the peak season, according to port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI).
Andrew Hoad, ATI executive vice president, in a statement said quay crane productivity at BCT stood at 32 gross moves per crane per hour (GMPH) in June while yard utilization remained below 50%, demonstrating the port’s capacity to handle more ships and cargoes.
GMPH is an efficiency measure indicating how fast a quay crane moves containers from ship to shore in an hour.
BCT ended the first half of 2017 handling over 93,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), marking another mid-year record for the terminal and keeping it on track to exceed its 2016 record volume of nearly 160,000 TEUs.
Since 2010, BCT has grown as a trade facilitator in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), serving as the government’s effective partner in decongesting Manila roads, ATI said.
Manila South Harbor
Meanwhile, Manila South Harbor (MSH) further increased crane productivity, hitting 30 GMPH, while yard utilization remains at an optimum 70%.
For the January-June 2017 period, MSH has already broken its 2016 record by handling just short of 550,000 TEUs.
“Overall, the two terminals are operating at an optimum range of yard capacity and are ready to take more volumes heading into the peak season in line with the growth of the Philippine economy,” Hoad said.
In 2016, MSH achieved a record milestone, handling over one million TEUs for the first time, which triggered a concession clause for more equipment deployment and port development. In line with this, MSH will take delivery of two more quay cranes during the first quarter of 2018, and undertake additional pier length development through 2019.
Its performance last year won for ATI the 2016 Best Terminal Award in Asia Pacific from its foreign shareholder partner DP World. ATI outperformed nine other DP World-affiliated terminals located throughout China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.
