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.

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Greetings From Cebu

Asof 4pm Sept 25, 2014 , Cebu boxes is 80% delivered... 29 days lang since ma load/dispatched from LAX..parang MManila ang bilis...

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Cebu Landing

Yay! The eagle has landed (so to speak)!!!

The first Cebu shipment of the West Coast arrived on September 19, 2014 as scheduled. No delays!  It was released from Customs after two days on September 23.

Erwin and company are in Cebu seeing to the unloading of the container and the dispatch to other destinations in VisMin. Boxes bound for Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Tacloban, CDO will be shipped via a 10‐footer immediately after unloading. Other destinations like Zamboanga and Surigao will be shipped via loose cargo. It goes without saying that Cebu and Bohol boxes will be delivered after a day or two. Metro Manila and Luzon boxes will be shipped the following day.

For updated information, please call your local Forex Cargo office.:

Forex Cargo Florida - Kagalakang Hatid at Maghatid

For more inquiries, call our Forex Cargo Office hotline at 904-458-SHIP  (904-458-7447) or (904) 272-7466. 

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Manila vice mayor defends truck ban

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno renewed yesterday his defense of the city government’s truck ban, scored by businessmen and some officials for disrupting commerce and worsening Metro Manila’s traffic problem.

“We want to address port congestion… We get the blame for the heavy traffic on C-5 Road, when it is not within (the jurisdiction of) Manila. We get blamed for the traffic even in Katipunan,” Moreno, whose real name is Francisco Domagoso, said during a Senate hearing on port congestion.

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Manila port logjam fans inflation as output ebbs

CONTAINERS with goods from garlic to microchips are piling up at the main ports in the Philippines six months after a truck ban took effect, causing a supply logjam that’s fanned inflation and may impair output.

A file photo of cargo vessel at a port in Manila. Manila’s ports account for about a third of the country’s inbound and outbound cargo, according to official data.

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AIR CARGO ADVISORY

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Truckers protest over port congestion

Truckers protest over port congestion

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Manila Truck Ban Blamed for Port Congestion

Manila Truck Ban Blamed for Port Congestion

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Port congestion threatens projected export growth

Port congestion threatens projected export growth

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Manila port congestion? Move to Subic, Batangas

Behind every crisis is opportunity. The economic drop that Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada caused by his citywide daytime truck ban in time could perk up the entire Mega Manila. That is, if national officials get their act together.

The truck ban was long due. For decades, dump and cargo trucks and container trailers have been wrecking city streets, clogging traffic, and dirtying the air. City hall derived no income from the haulers, while its road repair, traffic control, and public health bills mounted. Last Feb. Estrada forbade big vehicles from using his streets from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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PASA explains delays in balikbayan box deliveries

LOS ANGELES – In recent weeks, the delivery of balikbayan boxes to the Philippines has been encountering long delays, prompting the Pilipino American Shippers Association to reach out to tens of thousands of customers to explain the delays.

Joel P. Longares, one of the founders of PASA, an organization of balikbayan box forwarders in the United States, said the delivery of balikbayan boxes are experiencing from three to six week delays because of at least three reasons.

The first, Longares said, is the mandatory physical inspection of all balikbayan boxes by the Department of Homeland Security in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and other ports in the US. He said before the inspection was random with only those that show signs of suspicious cargo during the X-ray screening sent for physical inspection.

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Delays in the delivery of Balikbayan Boxes

Date: July 9, 2014

Subject: Delays in the delivery of Balikbayan Boxes

To: All our dear and valued Forex Cargo customers:

FOREX CARGO has time and again remains committed to provide the most efficient delivery services to our customers. This is how this company was established, and will continue to do so. However, in the recent months, factors beyond our control have been pushing our delivery schedule longer than usual.

First factor is the delay at the loading port of Long Beach/Los Angeles. Most of you by now, have either heard of or have already experienced delays in your previous shipments, due to the Examination Holds conducted by the US Customs and Border Protection. This examination, on the average adds two weeks to our delivery schedule. Not only does it delay the departure of the shipment, it likewise costs FOREX an average of $2500 per container, which we have been shouldering and never passed on to our agents nor to our customers.

The second and the bigger factor is the delay at the destination Port of Manila. As you are all aware of, Mayor Joseph Estrada enacted a truck ban on February 24, 2014 as a traffic-control measure within the city limits of Manila. “Eight-wheeled trucks and vehicles weighing more than 4,500 kilograms (10,000 pounds) are prohibited from Manila roads from 5:00 am to 10:00 am and 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Monday to Saturday.” (Bloomberg – May 12, 2014).

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The problems with Manila and Jakarta ports

The port infrastructure in Southeast Asia is not evenly developed and this will be a problem if the much vaunted Asean Economic Community (AEC) is to come into effect by next year as planned.

The two worst affected ports among the major Asean nations are the Port of Manila in the Philippines and Indonesia’s main gateway, the Port of Tanjung Priok in Jakarta.

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PPA sees normalization of Manila ports

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) expects operations at the Ports of Manila to normalize within the next four weeks as the government continues to pursue measures to resolve the congestion caused by the imposition of a day-time truck ban by the city government of Manila last February.

PPA general manager Juan Sta. Ana said in an interview with reporters that congestion at the Ports of Manila worsened due to the decision of the Manila City government to impose a day-time truck ban.

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Economists see slower export growth in H2

MANILA -- The truck ban imposed in the city of Manila and a slowing world economy will likely dampen the country’s exports growth in the second half of 2014, thus, diminishing the export sector’s contribution to economic expansion for the year, local economists said.

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