CPA highlights milestones as country celebrates maritime awareness in September

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – The Cebu Port Authority (CPA) highlights its milestones and the remarkable role of ports and maritime industries in the national response against COVID-19 and in economic sustainability as the country celebrates the Maritime Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo) in September with this year’s theme “Our Seas, Our Livelihood, Our Heritage: Connecting Lives and Nations”.

According to CPA general manager Leonilo Miole that ‘MANA Mo’ celebration aims to promote increased public awareness and appreciation of our country's maritime and archipelagic concerns as integral not only to national security but also to our country's development.

“In many ways, our experience has affirmed the remarkable role of ports in COVID-19 response. The responsiveness of the Port of Cebu helped in ensuring the unhampered movement and delivery of goods and other essential commodities such as food, medical supplies, fuel among others amidst the challenges brought about by COVID-19,” Miole said.

He thanked all port front liners and port stakeholders for their services to maintain the 24/7 port operations at the same time ensure the safety of all port users.  Miole also bared CPA’s accomplishments as it continues to provide unhampered flow of goods and services at the port.

He said that CPA was able to surpass pre-pandemic levels for Cargo throughput by 5.52 percent registering a total of 41,802,059 metric tons as of August 2021 compared to 39,615,701 metric tons recorded in August 2019. The increase can be greatly attributed to the port’s roll-on/roll-off (RORO) operations.

On passenger traffic, Miole went on that given the strict travel restrictions and community quarantine protocols imposed by the COVID-19 Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) and local government units, CPA registered a total of 3,115,235 arriving and departing passengers passing thru ports of Cebu as of August 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic record of 15,630,877 passenger traffic in August 2019.

To help address the global need for fresh crew of ships, and to ensure the health, safety, welfare and employment of seafarers, CPA  with other government agency partners from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Bureau of Immigration (BI) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) activated the one-stop-shop (OSS) for Crew Change Hub in October 2020.

After almost one year of operation, the Port of Cebu Crew Change Hub has already served a total of 131 foreign vessels and 1,722 on-signing and off-signing Filipino and foreign seafarers.

“While the Port of Cebu Crew Change Hub primarily aims to facilitate the speedy movement and transfer of stranded seafarers off their vessels, at the same time, this has also generated revenues for CPA with the collection of port charges from vessels availing the services of the crew change hub,” Miole revealed.

Since October 2020, the Port of Cebu crew change hub has generated a total of P3,547,785.44 from ship dockage or anchorage fees, Miole added.

As the country continues to work towards recovery, Miole said that CPA looks forward to the completion of the P1.6B capacity building projects being implemented in the Cebu Base port that includes the Expansion of R.C Deck and Back-Up Area Phase 2 and 3; the Construction of Pier 5 and the Repair of Existing Retaining Wall, Concreting of Damaged Pavement, Provision of Flood Light Tower and Drainage Systems @ Berths 29-30 at the Malacañan sa Sugbo Area.

Other Cebu’s big-ticket port infrastructure projects are the New Cebu International Container Port (NCICP) in Consolacion town and the Construction of San Fernando Port Project.  “These will ultimately stimulate the local economy and promote Cebu’s economic growth substantially,” Miole said.

With the on-going threats of COVID-19, CPA shifted to all-digital ‘MANA Mo’ celebration through the production and dissemination of the New Normal Port of Cebu Crew Change Hub Infomercial and CPA COVID-19 Response Video to raise public awareness on the continued port operations and measures implemented by CPA to deliver safe and secure port services. (Photos: CPA/Google Images)