Trade in Manila Bay dates at least 9th to 12th centuries when Manila traded with neighboring countries including China and Japan, with ties to India through the areas that are now Malaysia and Indonesia. During the Spanish Colonial Era of the Philippines Manila handled trade with China and other East Asian countries, with Mexico, with Arab countries, and directly with Spain from the 16th to mid-19th century when the port was opened to all trade. This was the galleon trade that connected the Philippines to Spain via Mexico, another Spanish colony. From the end of the galleon trade, through the American Colonial Era of the Philippines and Philippine independence, until today, the Port of Manila has been the main port of the Philippines for both domestic and international trade.
Location
The entrance to Manila Bay is wide and expands to a width of. Mariveles, in the province of Bataan, is an anchorage just inside the northern entrance, and Sangley Point is the former location of Cavite Naval Base. On either side of the bay are volcanic peaks topped with tropical foliage. to the north is the Bataan Peninsula and to the south is the province of Cavite.
Facilities
Manila North Harbor
Manila North Harbor, occupies a area in Tondo, Manila and is operated by the Manila North Harbour Port Inc., a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services Inc.. It has 7 piers. North Harbor is through Radial Road 10. The North Port Passenger Terminal, opened in 2013, can accommodate 2-3 million passengers sailing on inter-island ferries to cities throughout the archipelago. It is the main hub of 2GO ferry company, the largest inter-island ferry company in the Philippines.
Manila South Harbor
Manila South Harbor, is a port facility located in Port Area, Manila operated by Asian Terminals Incorporated, with 5 piers numbered with odd-numbers 3, 5, 9, 13 and 15. It is accessible through Bonifacio Drive and has a passenger terminal located between Pier 13 and 15 namely Eva Macapagal Super Terminal. It was formerly the main hub of 2GO ferry company. As of April 29, 2014, The management has installed a new Liebherr quay crane to increase the efficiency of Manila South Harbor.
Manila International Container Terminal
Manila International Container Terminal is operated by International Container Terminal Services Inc. It is one of Asia's major seaports and one of the Philippines' most active ports. It is located between the Manila North Harbor and the Manila South Harbor and can be accessed by road through MICT South Access Road. In 2011, Manila International Container Terminal ranked 38th in the list of world's busiest container ports with Twenty-foot equivalent units of 3,260,000. Inaugurated on July 7, 2012, Berth 6 became fully operational and increased the Port's annual capacity by 450,000 TEUs.
Future plans
With Berth 6 in operation, ICTSI is scheduled to finish Phase 1 development of Yard 7 by yearend and increase MICT's import capacity by 18 percent. South of Metro Manila, ICTSI's Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal has finished its Phase 1 development. The inland container depot, which serves as an extension of the MICT, adds 250,000 TEUs to MICT's annual capacity. It will be connected to Manila through the revival of the Manila-Calamba cargo intermodal system, which ceased operations in 2000 due to lower demand.
Transportation and infrastructure connections
Access to/from NLEX
The NLEX Karuhatan-Harbor Link is an expressway connects with the North Luzon Expressway main tollway at the Smart Connect Interchange located at Valenzuela up to R-10 in Navotas serves as an alternative road to the Manila North Harbor especially for the cargo trucks entering the port coming from Northern and Central Luzon, without a truck ban, and also eases traffic congestion at Andres Bonifacio Avenue, Quezon City and 5th Avenue. The C-3 Road elevated portion of NLEx Harbor Link from Caloocan to Navotas was already opened to all motorists since June 15, 2020 more than 3 months after the opening of Karuhatan-Caloocan elevated portion located at the railway alignment of Philippine National Railways.
The Pier 4 station is the future western terminus of Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2. It will constructed near the North Port Passenger Terminal located at Pier 4 of Manila North Harbor along Marcos Road. The west extension of Line 2 will also serve as a rail transport connection to the Port of Manila.
