New solutions – inland barges
Supply chain congestion accelerating diversification.
High utilisation rates on transport routes in Asia too are taking their toll and causing goods flows to stagnate. One solution being put forward – in the Philippines and in India, amongst other places – is the increased use of inland or short sea connections.
Exporters and importers in the Philippines didn’t particularly like it when the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced the temporary closure of the southern part of Roxas Boulevard, as the road is an important link between the Metro Manila agglomeration and the southern part of the island of Luzon.
According to local estimates, more than 900 trucks and more than 1,000 trailers make their way along this road every day in the southbound direction alone. Repair work on the road as well as on a nearby pumping station in Pasay City is now due to close this arterial road for the short-term future.
Alternatives for greater Manila
A service provided since November 2018 by ICTSI, the Manila-based port and terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc, has now been offered as an alternative solution in view of this bottleneck.
ICTSI recently invested in additional landside equipment for wharf handling as well as equipment for barge operations at its Cavite Gateway Terminal (CGT) in Tanza province, just to the south of Metro Manila.
The CGT was designed from the outset to provide alternative means of transport for containers between the capital’s port and the Calabarzon area, also south of Manila and on the main island of Luzon.
The country’s first dedicated inland waterway ro-ro terminal, built at a cost of about PHP 1.5 billion (EUR 26 million), is expected to relieve traffic congestion in Manila Bay and “support the country’s importers and exporters”, as ICTSI executive vice-president Christian R. Gonzalez pointed out.
CGT covers an area of approximately 6 ha; it offers an overall handling capacity of 115,000 teu a year, which means that, at full capacity utilisation, it could eliminate the need for approximately 140,000 truck trips in the greater Manila area, according to some estimates. CGT CEO Reimund Silvestre pointed out that “we can move containers to and from Manila faster than a truck.”
Legal framework for Indian waterways
More options are also currently opening up for the long-neglected inland waterways mode of transport in the Indian Subcontinent. Improving inland waterways, which has already been under discussion for years in India, has now received a new impetus with the passing of the Inland Waterways Bill by parliament in 2021. A USD 105 million World Bank loan for related projects has also contributed strongly.
Based on the new law, a new set of regulations for the nation’s inland waterways is currently being drafted by ministries, state governments and industry players, including the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).
Projected growth in inland waterway transport traffic also represents additional responsibilities for the authorities concerned, which is why the IRS has already signed memoranda with the state governments of Assam, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, and is preparing the same with the state governments of Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir.