THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has expressed confidence that its ports will be capable of handling greater cargo volumes once the Cabotage Law if lifted.
Philippines' ports poised to handle mega ships, boxes once cabotage law liftsTHE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has expressed confidence that its ports will be capable of handling greater cargo volumes once the Cabotage Law if lifted.
"They have been improving the capacity and capability of the Philippine ports in anticipation of the implementation of the Asean Economic Community at the start of next year, and those measures somehow help the state-owned agency adjust easily to the amendments in the Cabotage Law," general manager Juan Sta. Ana, reported the Manila Times.
"The major gateways have long been capable of handling bigger ships and our secondary gateways are being improved to handle international vessels," he said.
Philippine cargo volume posted a modest increase in the first four months of the year. According to PPA data, total volume reached 66.6 million tons, up 6.34 per cent against the same period in 2014.
Containerised cargoes jumped 9.45 per cent from January-April to 1.9 million TEU.
"While we expect that the effect of the relaxation of the Cabotage will not immediately trickle down to port operations, our ports will not have a hard time adjusting to the expected influx of vessels and cargoes in the different ports," Mr Sta. Ana said.
