SYSTEMS OF LOADS HANDLING

The services of manipulation of the merchandises are responsibility of the private company through the port operators of Cargo (OPC) that are private companies that have authorizations for the handling of the Cargo and with contracts of Leasing of the yards and warehouse of the Port and that they possess registration of the digmer. These lease contracts have been granted by the APPB and that they will expire automatically with the concessions validity.

Priority of the ships and assignment of the berth

The assignment of the berth is carried out in meetings that take place three times per week, the days Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the attendance of the representatives of the shipping agencies that operate in the port. The department of operations of APPB assigns to the berth that corresponds to each ship, based on the arrival order to it floats her of sea and at the time of permanency in the dock, the ships that consider inferior times of operation at 9 hours in its programming will have preference on those that have superior times of operation at 15 hours, the ships that have received this preferential treatment they don't have option to request extension of the permanency in the dock.

Manipulation of the loads

The marine transport of the bananas by means of the employment of containers doesn't have the development that could be expected, in similar form to what happens in the handling of other products, where the growth is much bigger, for the reasons that are indicated next:

- For the conditions of shipment of the fruit that the buyers impose in each one of the ports of reception of the product, being based on the existent infrastructure in each one of them.

- For the high daily cost of the containers on board approximately 20/25 dollars per day that it is very onerous especially in long traffics as the distant east and the Mediterranean.

The import containers are disembarked with the team characteristic of the ships, since these use their own cranes for the mobilization from the warehouse until the apron of the yard or until the platform or chassis of transport; in case the load is in the floor, a containership is used to go up the container to the platform or chassis so that it is mobilized to the yard of general load, where it is discharged of the vehicle of transport and stored; for these manoeuvre container ship is also used. During the permanency of the container in the dock the private company proceeds to carry out the calling cards of the merchandise, while in the yard of general load, without load concessed, the keeper Storage of APPB registers the entrance in the yard. The container will remain under it guards port until it is retired. This only if has the respective documentation that guarantees that all the tariff obligations and the corresponding port rates have been paid.

The handling of the loose of import cargo on wheels, prelingada or in yokels it is practically the same one that the one described for the containers, with the difference that this load type will be stored in the warehouse no.6 or no.7 if it is merchandise perecible. If it is not it, the load is stored to the bleakness or in the same yard of general load. Similar treatment receives the vehicles, reels and urea that are stored in load general yard for the first case, in the yard reefer for the second case and in the warehouse of bulks for the last case.

The handling of the export load in refrigerated containers begins with an application of entrance authorization and requirement of services presented by the OPC to the department of operations of the entity. The containers will be able to only enter to the port enclosure presenting the mentioned properly legalized authorization and annexing the elaborated guide of transport based on a model made by APPB. Additionally the OPC will present an application of equipment, warehouse and yards and takings refrigerated in case that is necessary, to be able to embark the containers the OPC will have the documentation that demonstrates that the port rates have been paid and to have the respective authorization of customses. The containers when entering fulfilling the suitable documentation, will pass to the yard reefer if they require of electric takings or to the yard of general load, where they will remain while waiting for the arrival of the ship. When the ship is clever to receive the merchandise, this is transferred until the apron of the dock where it is embarked through the cranes of the ship. In this operation they are also used container ships and bolsters with their respective chassis and/or platforms.

The handling of the bananas in boxes follows the following procedure: the vehicle enters for the door of access of load of av. the gold, where it is it registers and is assigned a number of shipment order. From there is a correspondent to the area of parking of vehicles where she/he hopes the taken charge port operator authorizes him to pass to the wait areas located in 2da o'clock, 3ra. and 4ta. traverse for the break water dock and in 2da o'clock. and 5ta. traverse for the marginal dock. Once the enough space exists, the one in charge of the company port operator authorizes the entrance from the vehicle to the dock where it is located meetly to allow the discharge in the smallest possible time, without interfering the work of other vehicles of the same one or of another ship. The shipment of the fruit is carried out by the gang of the port operator that is in the dock that proceeds in the first place to discharge the banana tree of the truck and to locate it in yokels that are placed by means of hoist in the baskets or hairband of the cranes or feathers of the ships.

If the bananas boxes require to be palletized the warehouse 3 are used, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 from where they are transferred to the dock to be embarked. The manipulation of this load type is carried out with hoist, bolsters or chassises, these last ones to transfer them from the warehouse.

According to the statistics of the year 2001; 93,19% of the total movement of load of Puerto Bolívar corresponds to the banana tree export, being 54,98% in bulk; 34,41%palletized and 3,80% in containers.