International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Tuesday it completed a berth expansion project at the flagship Manila International Container Terminal that effectively raises its annual capacity to over 3.3 million TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units.
“The added berthing capability and yard space will enable the country to easily handle added volume that is expected as the country gears up for an economic reboot following last year’s trade flow facilitation complications,” ICTSI executive vice president Christian Gonzalez said.
“Moreover, this will enable us to continue performing our tasks as front liners to move critical goods that are still badly needed,” he said.
The project included a number of crucial works including the berth expansion that adds another 150 meters to Berth 7, creating a 600-meter contiguous berth together with the adjacent Berth 6 to accommodate over 8,000-TEU capacity vessels. The two berths have five quay cranes, with a design for up to six quay cranes.
The berth expansion is complemented by the extension of the container yard by about another 5.5 hectares—three hectares designated for laden containers and 2.5 hectares for empties. This redounds to added capacity for the terminal of an estimated 200,000 TEUs for laden containers and 150,000 TEUs for empties.
The additional berth space was completed on time and on budget despite some limitations caused by the pandemic, with strict safety and health protocols implemented throughout the project construction and completion, according to ICTSI
“This project along with the other projects we are implementing, are part of our commitment to the government and to our port users to ease business activities and transactions at the port,” said MICT executive director and chief executive Anders Dommestrup.
“We will continue to invest in terminal facilities to improve our capacity, infrastructure and environmental footprint to provide the highest level of service,” he said.
MICT said its equipment replacement program would involve acquisition next year of another eight environmentally-friendly hybrid rubber tired gantries to add to the 32 hybrid RTGs acquired starting in 2018.
It said part of the replacement program was the dismantling of MICT’s first quay crane this year which would be replaced over the next three years by three new quay cranes that are all capable of servicing larger vessels of over 12,500-TEU capacity.
MICT is also refurbishing Berths 1 to 5 and their back-up areas in preparation for the next 25 years of operation, it said.
It said these would include the installation of an additional 450 reefer plugs for 40 footers expected to be operational by April this year, refurbishment of Berths 1 to 4 by September this year and the upgrade of the yard infrastructure of Berths 1 to 5 by the end of 2022.
MICT said it would also upgrade the entire terminal this year to the newest and more environment-friendly LED lighting system. This is expected to eliminate light spills and glare while lowering energy consumption by as much as 75 percent.
The new lighting system will also provide a safer traffic environment with improved lux-levels of 5 to 8 times, it said.
Additional truck ingress, equipped with optical character recognition, will be operational by April with additional automation to further improve gate service.
MICT said it continued to engage with the Bureau of Customs to continue to improve services in relation to the unimpeded and online release of cargo to include reduced releasing time from filing of entry and more seamless X-ray and inspection procedures.
