Port operator Manila North Harbour Port, Inc. (MNHPI) expects to close the year with a 9% increase in cargo volume to 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 1.1 million TEUs in 2015.
In a statement, the company said it posted record vessel turnaround rates, with more than 100,000 TEUs recorded each month for six consecutive months in 2016. New equipment installed such as ship-to-shore quay container cranes and rubber-tyred gantry cranes helped boost vessel turnaround, it added.
Contributing to the 52-hectare port facility’s improvement is the adoption of advanced terminal operating system N4, which made transactions more efficient, the company said. MNHPI earlier noted it was the first domestic port in the world to adopt the terminal operating system.
This year, MNHPI said it set up new corporate offices and two operations center that consolidated offices of resident shipping lines into a one-stop shop. The new portal also allowed clients to check status of cargo any time.
READ: New operations centers, terminal operating systems seen to boost efficiencies at Manila North Harbor
In addition, the modernization program for the port led to the establishment of the new North Port Passenger Terminal Complex, which provides comfort and security to as many as 2,000 passengers at any given time.
MNHPI is undertaking modernization as part of its concession agreement with the Philippine Ports Authority. MNHPI is completing Phase 1 and has also already started works on Phase 2.
Phase 2 includes the expansion of the container yard and the continuous quay length. After Piers 14 and 16, MNHPI will also develop the other piers to give North Harbour 1.7 kilometers of continuous quay length in all. This will enable the port to accommodate 10 vessels of 140 meters in length at one time. Domestic vessels currently range from 95 meters up to 150 meters long.
Once modernized, North Harbour can handle around 3.5 million TEUs annually.
