DTIS, Volume I - Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)

Changes in the role and structure of MPA are on going. It is currently a statutory port
authority tasked with exercising the dual and conflicting roles of port authority and port
operator. The process of separating MPA’s roles has begun. The memorandum and
articles of association have been drafted for notional, separate and independent port
authority and port operator companies, but little further progress has been made. The first
step in the process would be to create separate port authority and port operator divisions,
which would then be able to begin to keep each other “at arm’s length,” as appropriate.
B. MALDIVES COMMERCIAL HARBOUR (MCH)
MCH is the only customs entry point for maritime goods in the Maldives. It has limited
space available in terms of a single berth 101.3m long and 10.2m deep. The container
yard has an area of 21,700m 2 . A covered warehouse for perishable cargo provides
another 2,900m 2 . The quay apron is a cantilever structure that is not suited to loadbearing
activities. Sundry structures including an equipment maintenance shed exist
along or near to the rear boundary of the facility, which is overlooked by the Maldives
Port Authority (MPA) office building.
Due to the limited space the MCH is badly congested. Specialized container-handling
cranes are not available and ship working relies entirely on ship’s-gear, which increases
the cost of handling. Reach-stackers and forklift-type stackers move containers and stack
these as much as four-high (empties only), but only a primitive spreadsheet-based yard
management system is in use. In addition, the port displays a mix of traditional terminal
activities, and activities that would normally be handled in off-terminal depots.
Congestion and the absence of a yard management system leads to goods management
problems such as identification of containers in- and out-bound, which all add to the
transaction costs. The ever-growing numbers of containers coming in aggravates the
situation. As only limited volume of goods leaves the Maldives, transaction costs increase
further, as most containers shipped out are empty. From a resource point of view, empty
containers are no different to full containers as they consume exactly the same space in
the terminal, and take exactly the same amount of effort to handle.
The number of ships handled at MCH increased significantly over the period 1995
through 1998, at an average of 15.5 per cent per year, before falling slightly and then
increasing again, but at a much slower rate (2.2% per year) through 2004. Whole-period
growth averaged 4.9 per cent per year. Ship turnaround time (measured in days) fell
steadily from 1996 through 2001 (at an average of 9.8 per cent per year) before
increasing through 2004, giving a whole-period average reduction of 3.9 per cent per
year. In fact, the number of containers per ship grew over the period, averaging 18.8 per
cent per year.
The MHC recorded an astonishing five-fold increase in port productivity, which suggests
that the port has already made great strides towards addressing its operational problems.
The productivity index relates the amount of cargo handled to the turnaround time of the
ships from which it was handled. This is the classic ship-working productivity index, and
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