Good planning and a quick return to work at the Kingston Container Terminal has resulted in the Port making considerable gains on operational time lost as a result of Hurricane Ivan.
After closing for four days, operations resumed on Monday, September 13 and by Friday September 17, nine vessels had departed the Port. With an average daily processing of 60 containers, there is no backlog at the container stripping station.
"Our ability to recoup so quickly is the result of effective emergency management strategies," said Noel Hylton, president and CEO of the Port Authority of Jamaica. "Once it was safe to reopen the Port, all stakeholders in the shipping industry were singularly focused on getting operations back to normal without too great a delay."
At the end of last week, turn times at the Port averaged 15
minutes. To further expedite the resumption of normality, three vessels were processed at Kingston Wharves. A 6-6-5 gang structure will continue until further notice.
The Kingston Container Terminal recently recorded the highest volume of container moves in its history with the achievement of 114, 000 TEUs in July 2003. The period January to June, 2004 is also on record as the best six months in the history of the Terminal.
