North harbour revises queue rules for vessels
Under the revised rules, separate queues will operate for the harbour’s three zones: A Zone, C Zone and the Express Zone.
The Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) has revised the queuing system at Male’ North Harbour, introducing separate queues for each operational zone.
Under the previous rules, vessels were permitted to register in the queues for all three harbour zones simultaneously. However, only one trip could be registered in the queue at a time. The system, introduced in March, drew complaints from vessel owners, who said it reduced the number of cargo trips they could complete each month.
According to boat operators, vessels often had to wait between 10 and 15 days before receiving a queue number to enter North Harbour, limiting many vessels to one or two cargo trips each month.
They also said that after paying key wall fees, vessels were required to register immediately for the next queue. Failure to do so often resulted in a longer wait for another queue number.
Operators further stated that vessels remained in the queue even after departing from the islands, while long waiting lists developed across all three zones because vessels were allowed to hold queue positions in each zone at the same time.
Four months after introducing the previous system, MPL has now gazetted amendments to the North Harbour queuing rules.
Under the revised rules, separate queues will operate for the harbour’s three zones: A Zone, C Zone and the Express Zone. Vessel operators may register in only one queue of their choice at a time.
A trip will be considered complete when a vessel reaches the key wall according to its allocated queue number, loads cargo and departs after settling the required key wall charges.
MPL has also removed the provision requiring a vessel’s queue position to be placed on hold if it failed to approach the key wall or respond to a phone call within two hours.
The previous rule allowing vessels in the A Zone and C Zone queues to place their queue position on hold for up to five days without cancellation has also been withdrawn.
Under the new regulations, if a vessel is unable to approach the berth or respond to the notification for any reason, its queue position may be postponed a maximum of three times.
The revised rules will take effect at 11:59 pm on Monday.
