Changes have been made to the rules for allocating space to vessels at Male' North Harbour.
Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), which operates the North Harbour, publicly announced the changes to the rules today. MPL stated that this change is being brought to further strengthen the current procedures for allocating space to vessels, and the newly introduced changes will come into effect starting from the 14th of this month.
Among these changes, cargo and passenger vessels will have the opportunity to register in any queue from the time of departure, after completing the payment of quay wall fees at Male' North Harbour. When the North Harbour office calls to allocate space from the quay wall in queue order, if a vessel is unable to approach the quay wall within 2 hours for any reason or if the phone cannot be reached, that vessel will be temporarily "held" from the A-Zone and C-Zone queues. The office also stated that they will then call and allocate space to the remaining vessels in the queue in order.
Vessels "held" from the A-Zone and C-Zone can be added back to the queue by calling the North Harbour office and requesting it after the vessel enters the Greater Male' region. MPL stated that calling to "unhold" in this manner is a responsibility that must be fulfilled by the vessel's side. Furthermore, for vessels added back to the queue after being "held" in the queues of these two zones, if a space becomes available, they will be called two hours after being "unheld". Even when the office calls after this time has elapsed, if the vessel cannot approach the space for any reason or if the phone is not answered, the space will be postponed. This postponement can be done a maximum of 3 (three) times. On the 4th time, it will be cancelled from the queue.
MPL stated that although there is an opportunity to "hold" in the A-Zone and C-Zone, there will be no "holding" or "postponing" in the Express Queue. Additionally, when called because a space has become available in the Express Queue, a four-hour window will be given to approach that space, and quay wall charges will apply for this time. If the vessel cannot approach the quay wall within these 4 hours, that vessel will be cancelled from the queue, MPL said.
In addition to this, after being "held" from the A-Zone and C-Zone queues, a vessel can remain without being "unheld" for a maximum of 5 days or 120 hours, and once this period expires, the vessel will be removed from the queue, MPL also stated.
