MANILA North Harbour Port Inc. (MNHPI) has filed a crane rate petition with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) as it began operating cranes to move cargo at the North Harbor.
MNHPI chief executive officer Richard Barclay said three quayside and rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes have been deployed at Manila North Harbor.
For 20-foot equivalent unit and below containers, the proposed quayside crane rate is P1,900 for loaded and P1,598 for empty; for larger than 20-foot boxes, the port operator proposed to charge P2,658 fee for a loaded container and P2,059 for an empty one
In arriving at the P1, 900 quayside crane rate, MNHPI’s computation showed equipment running cost would be P254.49; equipment and facilities (depreciation), P851.08, and the repairs and maintenance of wharves, P47.82; general and administrative cost, P337.15; real property tax, P92.29, and insurance, P36.90.
“The total is P1,619.73 plus mark-up, so the exact rate for a 20-footer is P1,911, but we rounded it off so we come out with P1,900 for a loaded container,” Barclay explained.
Boxes larger than 20-footers will be charged P2,658 for loaded and P2,059 for empty. The NMHPI arrived at these rates using the ratio of stevedoring rates for other ports.
“The proposed crane rate takes into consideration various factors consistent with PPA guidelines including equipment running costs, equipment and civil infrastructure, general administrative overhead, real property taxes and insurance,” its petition read.
With MNHPI’s current stevedoring rate of P296.70 that will add up to the proposed cranage rate, the total cost would be P2,196.70 for a 20- footer (loaded) container while P2,954.70 for above 20-footer.
MNHPI came out with an analysis after comparing its rates with the South Harbor and the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
It said Asian Terminals Inc., which operates the South Harbor port, and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), which runs MICT, charge P3,742.45 for a 20- footer and P5,235.09 for larger than 20-foot containers.
Barclay said MNHPI’s proposed rates were lower by 41% and 44% respectively. But he noted that while the two ports handle international cargoes, the investment and necessary infrastructure and costs to run the equipment and labor costs remain essentially the same.
On the other hand, Batangas port charges P2,756 for 20-footer and P3,857 for above 20-foot boxes, which show that MNHPI rates are still 20% and 23% lower, respectively.
MNHPI is also seeking a quayside crane standby rate of P3,480 per hour or a fraction thereof.
“The benefits of using quay cranes are, it improves the availability of ship’s cranes in outports, (and) reduced port time provides the opportunity to adjust a vessel’s steaming time,” Barclay said.
“The reduced voyage time would provide opportunity for shippers and consignees to reduce their inventory levels as well as reduce checkers, supervisors and security,” he added.
Photo from www.mnhport.com
