Even as global trade struggles to return to its pre-pandemic health as geopolitical tension remains elevated, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) believes a double-digit growth in cargo and passenger volume is attainable.

In a briefing on Tuesday, PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago indicated that passenger traffic would likely pick up by 30 to 33 percent.

On the other hand, cargo movement at the Manila International Container Terminal and Manila South Harbor is deemed to increase by 10 to 13 percent.

“This as ports are expected to be busy until the last quarter because of the ‘ber’ months and the Holiday Season,” he said.

In 2023, the PPA recorded a surge in passenger traffic on sea terminals by 24 percent to 73.61 million last year from 59.19 million in 2022.

But the passenger traffic numbers were still below the pre-pandemic level of 83.72 million passengers.

Cargo movement last year, on the other hand, grew by about 5 percent to 271.97 million metric tons from 259.14 million MT in 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic volume of 265.88 million MT in 2019.

Decarbonization efforts

In terms of decarbonization efforts, a requirement of the International Maritime Organization on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, Santiago said they are slowly progressing into clean energy to make their operation more environmentally sound.

“We’ve been migrating all our lighting facilities into solar, in which 70 to 80 percent of our lighting is now solar powered, particularly in South Harbor. We want to make sure that our operations are ecologically sound, that is why we implemented the use of single-use plastics in our terminals,” according to Santiago.

Further, he said the PPA is consistently implementing its tree-planting activities.

“Since 2020, we have been able to plant 3 million seedlings, with the help of our employees and stakeholders. With the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units, we can identify the locations for our tree planting and greening initiatives,” he said.

Apart from this, Santiago said there are proposals to convert port waste as a source of energy, and he stressed that they are looking into that.

“We are also in constant coordination primarily with LNG operators First Gen in Batangas; San Miguel Corporation and Aboitiz Power for their plant in Ilijan, to make sure that our port operations in LNG terminals and vessels is concerned, are safe and compliant with the environmental and IMO regulations,” according to Santiago.

The 2023 IMO GHG Strategy represents a framework for Member States, setting out the future vision for international shipping, the levels of ambition to reduce GHG emissions, and guiding principles; and includes candidate mid- and long-term further measures with possible timelines and their impacts on States.

The strategy also identifies barriers and supportive measures including capacity building, technical cooperation, and research and development.

The 2023 IMO GHG Strategy envisages, in particular, a reduction in carbon intensity of international shipping (to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work), as an average across international shipping, by at least 40 percent by 2030.

The strategy also includes a new level of ambition relating to the uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources which are to represent at least 5 percent, striving for 10 percent, of the energy used by international shipping by 2030.