Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 21)—The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Thursday suspended for 30 days the permit to operate of cruise logistics provider Ben Line Agencies and cruise agent Travel People Ltd. Inc., following their alleged mishandling of the Nov. 30 arrival of thousands of international cruise passengers at the Port of Manila.
\”Sa loob ng panahong ‘yun, bibigyan sila ng PPA na magnilay-nilay kung paano nila mas mai-improve ‘yung serbisyo nila para hindi na mangyari ‘yung similar na insidente,\” PPA General Manager Jay Santiago said in a statement.
[Translation: The PPA is giving them that suspension time to make improvements in the service they provide so that these kinds of incidents will not happen again.]
The PPA added that for the scheduled arrival of more than 3,000 passengers on another cruise on Jan. 6, it will opt to hire another agent and service provider.
It stressed that the viral “cruise chaos,” where the passengers were congested in a holding area and had to wait for an extended period to collect their baggage at the port, should not happen again.
READ: Cruise agent, terminal operator asked to explain ‘cruise chaos’ in Manila port
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/transportation/2023/12/15/viral-cruise-chaos-manila-port.html
The Ben Line Agencies delivered on Dec. 18 its statement to the PPA saying the TravelPeople, which is the Shore Excursion Agent of the MV Norwegian Jewel, is the one \”responsible\” for the passengers of the cruise.
Citing Ben Line Agencies, the PPA said the congestion of space in the port area was due to the high number of private vehicles of passengers.
It also said that TravelPeople designated some parking spaces to the passengers who availed of its bus transfer services. However, only 40% of the passengers availed of its bus transport leading to congestion in the area, it added.
For its part, terminal operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) of the MV Norwegian Jewel explained to the PPA that they were not informed by the Ben Line Agencies about its decision to conduct the baggage declaration in a small room in the terminal port.
As a result, the PPA said these miscommunications resulted in the mishandling of passengers— or the “cruise chaos” as how Facebook user Nelson Terible described it in his viral post.
Meanwhile, Santiago said they have been doing port improvements to promote the Philippine tourism.
“Best Cruise Destination in Asia 2023 ang Pilipinas, sa PPA we have been improving our ports para ma-promote rin ang turismo, kaya dapat nag-i-improve din ang partners natin sa pagseserbisyo sa mga pasahero,” he said.
