The Manila South Harbour (MSH), the Philippines’ premier international trade gateway, received an operational boost as DP World and its strategic partner, Asian Terminals Inc., have announced the completion of milestone projects, poised to promote long-term economic growth and trade for the Philippines and Southeast Asia growth corridor.
DP World and ATI invested approximately US$100 million on projects which include the extension of Pier 3 berth to over 600 meters, yard expansion to accommodate 20,000 TEUs, the addition of two new Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes, and purchase of eco-friendly landside equipment.
An official ceremony was held at MSH to celebrate this development. Led by Department of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, the event was attended by DP World’s senior leadership led by His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, Philippine Ports Authority’s General Manager Jay Santiago, Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, ATI President Eusebio Tanco as well as major stakeholders, customers, and industry partners.
In all, the recent development projects bring MSH’s annual throughput capacity to nearly two million TEUs, growing capacity by over 25% from 1.45 million TEUs previously. This enables the terminal to accommodate more cargo volume and bigger ships deployed by international carriers, providing faster and safer turnaround times to support the country’s international trade.
The two neo post-panamax STS cranes, manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, are the largest among MSH’s 11 quay-side equipment and among the biggest ever deployed in the Philippines. With an outreach of 58 metres, each STS crane can handle vessels carrying up to 20 containers wide. Each crane is equipped with modern safety and operational features such as intelligent sensing systems for monitoring speed, vibration, temperature, trailer positioning, anti-collision, and automated diagnostics.
Plans are also underway to deploy electric and hybrid landside equipment, including yard tractors, container loaders and rubber-tired gantry cranes in support of MSH’s carbon reduction initiatives.
