Vessels operate at reduced capacity

Vessels operate at reduced capacity
Genivi Verdejo March 31, 2021 https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/03/31/business/maritime-business/vessel...

The maritime transportation at ports continue to operate only at 50 percent service capacity as strict compliance with the minimum public health standards under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The Joint Maritime and Port Advisory showed that maritime transport remained operational starting 12:01 am of March 29, 2021, until midnight of April 4, 2021, but servicing only 50 percent of its capacity.

The cargo handling, vessel operations, and other related port ancillary services maintain their operations but need compliance with recent issuances on the implementation of ECQ within the NCR Plus Bubble.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Omnibus Guidelines permitted travel onboard maritime vessels at both government and private ports only to allowed individuals.

These are health and emergency frontline services personnel, government officials and frontline personnel, duly authorized humanitarian assistance actors (HAAs), persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reason, persons going to the airport for travel abroad, anyone crossing zones for work or business permitted in the zone of destination and going back home, returning or repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and overseas Filipinos, returning to their places of residence.

The travel through maritime vessels and the ports will be subject to requirements as may be imposed by the local government units (LGUs) where voyages originate and end.

“Vessel operations, cargo handling operations, and other related port ancillary services and activities shall continue subject to compliance with the Omnibus guidelines in the implementation of community quarantine, as amended in the NCR+ bubble. Stricter adherence and observance of health protocols shall be observed in all maritime vessels and port facilities,” it said.

The advisory was released by the maritime sector of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), composed of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), in line with the implementation of ECQ per IATF Resolution No. 106-A dated March 27, 2021.

DOTr gave the latest transport and travel protocols for the air, maritime, rail, and road transport sectors in the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila, as well as in the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna. These protocols shall be observed throughout the ECQ imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) from March 29 to April 4, 2021.