According to PNG Ports Corporation Ltd, the country's two international marine ports have developed considerably in the last four years.
According to statistics released last month, cargo volumes increased by 204,518 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) this year, while vessel turnaround time decreased by approximately 50%.
PNG Ports owns the Lae and Motukea terminals in Port Moresby, which are managed and operated by International Container Terminal Services Inc (Ictsi) South Pacific, a worldwide terminal operator.
The Ictsi Group and PNG Ports inked a 25-year terminal management deal in September 2017 to operate the two ports.
The South Pacific International Container Terminal (Spict) operates out of Lae, while the Motukea International Terminal (MIT) operates out of Motukea.
Last month, the Ictsi said that the two ports had outperformed expectations, with vessel turnaround times and berth waiting periods decreased and cargo volumes increased.
In Lae, the average time spent waiting for a vessel has reduced from 45 hours in 2015 to 30 hours this year.
It was 37 hours ago and 15 hours ago in Motukea.
Cargo volumes have increased dramatically this year, with a total TEU of 204,518 compared to 195,348 in 2015.
In comparison to the conventional days of manually billing clients just four years ago, electronic data exchange and reporting, including invoicing and payments, are also carried out electronically and in real-time. Fego Kiniafa, managing director of PNG Ports, praised the improved performance.
“Bigger ships are coming in with the modernisation and rehabilitation of the ports and PNG Ports is happy to continue working with Ictsi on this,” Kiniafa said.
PNG Ports also have ports in the following areas: Oro Bay, Kimbe, Kieta and Buka in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Daru, Alotau, Rabaul, Lorengau, Kavieng, Altape Wewak, Vanimo, and Madang.
Reference: The National (20 October 2021). “Sea ports’ performances improved in past 4 years: Firm”.
