Asterix

Sold for $ 8,8m to undisclosed buyers

Port officials have stepped up the decongestion of Manila’s crammed ports by moving hundreds of overstaying freight containers to Subic ahead of the arrival of new shipments for the Christmas season. A chartered vessel, MV Asterix, left the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) Thursday morning en route to Subic carrying 1,154 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said. The vessel is expected to be back in Manila over the weekend to carry the remainder of the estimated 3,000 TEUs initially marked for transfer by the PPA, Bureau of Customs and port operators International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Asian Terminals Inc. The number may still increase in the next few days. Businessmen affected by the congestion have blamed it on the expanded daytime truck ban implemented by the Manila city government since February. The ban slowed down deliveries and the movement of cargo out of the port.