25 SEPTEMBER 2021, LUCENA CITY—The Port Management Office of Marinduque/Quezon (PMO MarQuez) is anticipating bigger Ro-Ro traffic as the PMO unveils an additional pier and a POB facility at its Lucena port.
With high concentration of passengers and rolling cargoes bound for Marinduque and Romblon, the new pier facility will address the congestion at the port as it offers additional berthing space for vessels.
The new pier, along with the PMOs Port Operations Building (POB), are set to be inaugurated this Saturday, 25 September 2021 with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary ArtTugade as Guest of Honor and Speaker.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said these twin developments will make the port and the PMO more capable of handling bigger vessel calls and larger rolling cargoes, as the country transitions to the new normal.
“Lucena port is very vital to the economies of Quezon, Marinduque and Romblon. However, it is bugged by some congestion not only during peak seasons but almost through the whole year thus, choking the growth of the three provinces. This, we wanted to address swiftly,” GM Santiago said.
“Now, with the new pier already in place, vessel congestion is expected to ease up and likewise ensure the faster commercial turnaround of vessels. Eventually, this will translate to more vessel frequencies which will result in higher volume of cargoes and passengers for the port, as well as provide opportunity for growth on areas where the port is interconnected,” Santiago added.
The construction of the POB and the new pier were carried out under the Build-Build-Build program of the current administration by the PPA and the DOTr for Filipinos and the global traveling community primarily aimed at providing the much-needed buffer for the terminal in the next decade or so.
The annual passenger volume average for the terminal is pegged at around 925,000 or about half of the average consolidated passenger volume of the PMO which is at 1.815 million annually.
In terms of Ro-Ro traffic, the annual average is about 131,000 rolling cargoes representing 50% of the overall annual Ro-Ro traffic for the entire PMO.
Lucena also handles about 6,000 shipcalls annually or a little under 50% of the consolidated shipcalls handled by the PMO at 12,500 shipcalls.
“The projects which are being inaugurated one after the other are the culmination of our efforts to provide seamless connectivity and mobility since the Duterte administration came in July 2016. With the strong-willed leadership of Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, this administration provided the facelifts of these ports that were deprived of such for at least a decade,” Santiago said.
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