The Philippines’ First Fast Cruiser Liner

Cruiser liners are our type of comfortable passenger-cargo ships that came before the ROROs (Roll-on, Roll-off ships). They were called cruisers for their type of stern which is curving like a half-moon. This type of ship has no car ramps nor decks for vehicles. What they had were cargo decks with booms to handle the …

On The 11th Anniversary of the Capsizing of MV Princess of the Stars

Before the Philippine Ship Spotters Society (PSSS) was founded, I already wrote two articles about the capsizing of the Princess of the Stars in another forum/website, that of our college student organization. I would just want to share it here, warts, errors and all so that means no revisions of any kind. The first one: …

The Sweet RORO

Many, when talking about the Sweet RORO of Sweet Lines Incorporated which is pf Bohol origin talk about her technicals and that is not wrong as there is nothing incorrect in admiring the technical merits of a ship especially that of a luxury liner. But to me I also tend to look at the historical …

The Mabuhay 1/SuperFerry 10

When Sulpicio Lines fielded the great liner Filipina Princess in the premier route to Cebu in 1988, their main competitor William Lines had to suffer silently for several years. That was because sticking to their old Japanese agent that send them ferries from A” Line, they cannot roll out an equivalent and their liner and …

The First Ship To Claim To Be The Fastest and Most Luxurious Passenger Ship After The War

Credits to Philippine Herald and Gorio Belen Right after the war, the Philippines did not have many good ships because the bulk were lost in the war – scuttled, sank, seized by the Japanese and lost. Before the war we have some of the better ships in the Far East bar maybe for the Japan …

The Flagship and Great Liner Wars Going Into the Middle ’90s

If the deadly-for-shipping decade of the '80s ended in 1990, in 1992 and more so in 1993 there was a palpable change of mood in the local shipping industry. There was optimism, a new outlook and the surviving shipping companies were raring to go instead of just trying to keep their heads above water. There …

The Sulpicio Lines Fast Cruiser Liners

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8223500@N05/3299353544/in/photolist-62EqSy-62Abev-62hFC4-62y3RW-77V2zr/ From the collection of John Uy Saulog In the era of cruiser liners, not only did they get bigger but they also got faster. So they competed not only in amenities and passenger service but also in shorter cruising times and this was valuable not only in the far ports like Davao but also …

The MV Manila City

Gorio Belen research in the National Library William Lines, from their very start and even when their fleet was not yet big always stressed the Southern Mindanao routes, a stress that was even over that of their stress in Northern Mindanao. They have their reasons and it might be economic. Maybe the political came later. …

The Diamond Ferries in the Philippines

When the Diamond Ferry Company ordered in 1990 and 1991 their second set of sister ships identical to their first set they ordered earlier, little did they know that the boom times of Japan fueled by the Japan property bubble would soon turn into bust that will bring about years of economic stagnation in their …

The Smallest and Last Japan “Cruiseferry” To Come To The Philippines

In the late 1960's, the “Bypasses of the Sea” came into existence in Japan. These were long-distance ROROs (actually ROPAXes) meant to bypass the crowded roads of Japan which was experiencing a sustained economic boom then in what was called the “Japan Miracle” which brought the former war-defeated and occupied country into the forefront of …