2012: The Birth of a Berth at the Port of Manila

July 7, 2012

Berth 6, a key addition to the Port of Manila, was fully opened for commercial operations. The Port of Manila is the collective term for various terminals and other infrastructure located in the Port Area and Tondo districts of the Philippines’ capital city of Manila.

The Port of Manila is the largest international shipping gateway for that Southeast Asian archipelagic country. This port is managed by the government-owned corporation Philippines Ports Authority, and it encompasses three major facilities: Manila North Harbor; Manila South Harbor; and the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT). Berth 6 is part of MICT, which is operated by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI). Work on this berth was completed after two years of construction.

The first official day of service for Berth 6 took place nine days after it was inaugurated by Benigno Aquino III, who was president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. Others on hand for this event included Christian Gonzalez, ICTSI vice president and MICT general manager. “The new berth is completed at the most opportune time for ICTSI,” Gonzalez said during the ceremony. “This enables us to prepare for the future since we will be able to provide the capacity needed as volume grows along with the country’s economic growth.”

Berth 6 significantly increased MICT’s annual capacity for cargo from 1.9 million TEUs to 2.5 million TEUs. TEU stands for “twenty-foot equivalent unit,” and — as a term frequently used in the context of ships transporting cargo to and from and ports — is based on the volume of 20-foot (6.1-meter)-long metal boxes widely known as intermodal containers.

MICT ranks as one of the busiest facilities of its kind not only within the Philippines but also across the globe. The above image of an aerial view of MICT was taken in 2019.

Photo Credit: © Mosbatho / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

For more information on Berth 6 of the Manila International Container Terminal at the Port of Manila, please check out https://cdnweb.ictsi.com/s3fs-public/2020-01/ictsi_annual_report_2012_75_dpi.pdf