Morning walk around Cebu International Port (Part 1)

My job has taken me to amazing places such as Thailand, China, Hongkong and even locally, here and recently here. There were various work-related travels that I wasn't able to document yet. I know the places I've been to are nowhere near where other people may have been sent to for work, but I'm still grateful for the opportunities.

Today, we're exploring another odd side of my job. ✨

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Covid to my advantage!

In 2020, while everyone was stuck in their homes scared that a virus might take away their lives, I enrolled myself in a 6-month program facilitated by the Philippine Institute of Supply Management (PISM) through its partnership with a local university in Cebu (USJR). The first time I paid for my education. I paid around $1,150 for the program.

The goal of the program is to help individuals like me who are new to the practice of Supply Chain to gain more knowledge about the various pillars of Supply Chain Management. Upon completion of the program, I was motivated by our Purchasing Department Head to represent our company in PISM. That's when I became the youngest Board of Trustee (BOT) in PISM.

One time, our president couldn't make it to an important activity so as a BOT, I had to be there and guide the students (new batch). And if you've read the title of this post, you probably have an idea where I'll take you today! Yup! Time for a virtual tour of the hustling and bustling Cebu International Port.

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But first, attendance!

Okay, allow me to correct myself. I didn't join as the guide in this Port Tour for it's also my first time there. I was there to make sure that our new batch of learners get the best experience, within the safety standards set by the port.

On this note, we had to wear hard hats for the entire duration of the walking tour. No hard hats, no entry! To make sure no one was left behind, the designated guide for the walking tour did a roll call before we entered the port area. Our President had to arrange the tour with Cebu Port Authority (CPA) prior to the actual tour since we had to prepare documents for the visit. You can't just walk in and ask for a tour. 😂

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Let the learning begin!

After checking attendance and last-minute reminders, we rode the port's shuttle to take us to the farthest part of the port. Upon arrival at the port's loading/unloading bay, I can sense the budding excitement in the participants; they moved and sounded like they were eager to learn a thing or two that morning. We're all Supply Chain Practitioners from Purchasing to Planning to Warehousing, but only a few of us have experience in terms of seaport operations. Hence, we're all ears to the guide.

Let's start learning, shall we? Below are what we call refer vans or containers. I've seen a lot of these because our main products are frozen processed meat. These containers must be kept at a certain freezing/below-freezing temperature as specified else the content's quality will be compromised. Plugging in is not free! The next time you ask why hotdogs and other processed meat are expensive, you now have an idea of one of the culprits!

Based on what I know, these refer vans will be discharged or pulled out from the yard once shipment docs have been cleared. It may not be the same for all but on average free time for dry shipments is 5-7 days while for frozen is 3 days. If containers aren't pulled out after the allotted free time, demurrage will be charged per day of extension.

I've heard of stories wherein shipment docs are mismatched and in this case, items will not be released. They're very strict, that's their job!

Our guide talked about a lot of things. We even moved to the end of the loading/unloading bay. And for Supply Chain Practitioners like me, it's a sight to behold!

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Action in real life!

We're lucky to have witnessed an actual vessel unloading its contents. This one is not a cargo vessel. Its loads are steel bars that will be used by a local company as raw materials for its products/services.

The steel bar looked thin in mid-air but they told us each weighed hundreds of kilograms. You'll die on the spot if this falls into you! 😭

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What's inside this vessel?

The participants were curious how these huge and heavy steel bars were able to fit inside the vessel. Thankfully, our guide managed to ask permission from the vessel's officers and before we knew it, we were up there, ready to explore every corner of it!

It's a different story once you're inside the vessel. It looked bigger than from a while ago when we were just staring at it from the unloading bay. The vessel is equipped with huge cranes that unload the steel bars one at a time.

By this time, the participants of the tour were throwing tons of questions about this and that. That's when I knew, the tour's serving its purpose which is to broaden the knowledge of the participants.

For the next few minutes, we continued exploring the vessel.

Until we came across a ladder that gave us a view of what was inside the vessel. Those who were curious stepped into the ladder and to our surprise, the vessel's hollow in the middle. Well, it's hollow for a reason, it served as the storage for the items (steel bars) this vessel was transporting.

It's like a basement that could accommodate 3 or 4 floors of a regular hotel/building. That's how huge that hollow part of the vessel is. I've heard from the guide that this vessel alone had been unloading the bars for 4 days. And they're not even halfway through! 😎

I couldn't believe what I've seen. It's fascinating to learn this firsthand.

I waited for everyone to leave to take these photos from the vessel with the Cebu Internation Port in the background. The towering structures you're seeing aren't monsters. We'll go near them some other time as this post is already very long!

And of course, I wouldn't leave without a photo of me lol! 😂

I hope you've learned a thing or two from this post. If there's one thing I'd like to highlight is ensuring a certain product reaches its consumers is not an easy job. Shipment arrivals and clearing alone take a lot of time and money!

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