In its efforts to decongest the ports of Manila, the government has approved a 90 percent discount incentive on docking fees for all vessels that will call on Batangas, and agreed with foreign shipping lines to make Subic Bay ports the temporary depots for containers.
The government, led by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), said clearing and withdrawing cargoes on weekends will greatly reduce congestion and traffic at the three ports in Subic Bay, Manila City and Batangas, reported BusinessWorld.
To attract operators to clear cargoes on weekends, the PPA is looking at ways to provide incentives to companies, and one of these perks is the 90 percent discount on docking fees for vessels in Batangas port.
"While there is a premium to be paid in clearing and withdrawing of cargoes on weekends, bigger savings will be recorded over time through faster delivery of goods and lower cost relative to storage fees," PPA general manager Juan C. Sta. Ana said during a press conference in Manila.
"The 90 percent discount was approved by the government, we're just waiting for the guidelines in order to implement it," Sta. Ana said.
Port operators International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) and Asian Terminals Inc (ATI) have expressed interest in working on weekends to guarantee that their ports will revert to normal operations in the next couple of weeks, while the PPA, BoC, the banks and shipping lines will also open their offices to assist in the withdrawal of cargoes and receiving of containers.
BoC has committed to maintain a skeletal force at the two major international gateways, as well as other adjacent ports, such as Batangas and Subic, to make sure that there would be no glitches on the weekend cargo releases.
PEZA also committed to bring out their overstaying containers at the two ports during weekends to get more leverage from the discounts to be given.
"As of the moment, the Ports of Manila remain clogged despite the 24-hour truck express lane opened by the City of Manila and the six-month suspension of the Metro Manila truck ban to clear the three-month cargo backlog," Sta. Ana added.
Other than the weekend release of cargoes, the foreign shipping lines and port operators have agreed to send empty containers to the Subic Bay ports due to the congestion at the ports of Manila.
Empty containers are among the major contributors to the Manila port congestion, which worsened by the day-time truck ban imposed by the city government of Manila last February, the PPA general manager said.
Foreign shipping lines and ICTSI agreed to start the process on August 10, to give ample time for both parties to streamline the system. As of the moment, there are about 17,000 empty containers occupying spaces at the ports of Manila, that when shipped out
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