Port congestion seen to worsen during Papal visit

ABS-CBNnews.com

Posted at 01/07/2015 5:54 PM

MANILA – The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said congestion at the Ports of Manila is expected to worsen with the arrival of Pope Francis on January 15.

PPA General Manager Juan Sta. Ana said that after the nine-day Christmas holiday break, yard utilization at the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and Manila South Harbor of Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) increased to 89 percent from 79 percent on December 24.

Sta. Ana said that based on estimates by the Port Congestion-Multisectoral Working Group (PC-MWG), yard utilization will climb by 3 percent a day during the 5-day Papal visit from January 15 to 19.

He said the number of vessels waiting at the pilot station increased to 17. The figure does not include the 5 currently docked at South Harbor and 7 at MICT as of January 7.

Read full story.........