Three RORO Companies Now In The Cebu To Surigao Route

Very recently, there are now three RORO companies vying in the route from Cebu to Surigao and vice-versa and for me that is a sea-shaking event but not a tsunami. It was Medallion Transport Inc. which started this thing when they fielded their biggest ship, the Lady of Love in the said route. To be …

I Did Not Expect That The Panay Liners (Except For Iloilo) Will Easily Surrender To The Intermodal Trucks And Buses

In the island of Panay, liners from Manila (they were really liners but were doing practically what is an overnight route if 250 nautical miles can be called an overnight route) called in Dumaguit port in Aklan and in the Culasi port of Roxas City in Capiz and many liners were assigned here by WG …

The Masbate-Pio Duran Route and How It Grew

The last time I was in Masbate City and that was last year, I have already observed that this new competing route is already dominating the old connection by RORO to the Bicol mainland or peninsula and that is the Masbate to Pilar, Sorsogon route although it is a longer route and people of Masbate …

Masbate City to Castilla, Sorsogon: An Unexplored Route

  Photo by Adecer X. Bogart of PSSS Very recently, the Shogun Ships Co. Inc. (Shogun Shipping) announced the opening of their Masbate City to Castilla, Sorsogon route through Island Water, their Medium Speed Craft (MSC) subsidiary that is using small catamarans from China. This has the support of the LGU of Castilla especially the …

When Eastern Visayas Ports And Shipping Were Still Great

Growing up I heard tales from my late father how great Tacloban port was. He told me about its importance, its physical dimensions, the location, the size of the bodegas outside it and even its relation to Gen. Douglas MacArthur. I had the idea that Tacloban was the greatest port east of Cebu and my …

Recent Developments in Bicol Passenger Shipping

A Backgrounder A few years ago, Montenegro Shipping Lines Inc. (MSLI) of Batangas entered the Matnog-San Isidro route using the government-owned San Isidro Ferry Terminal in San Isidro, Samar. Before that the company already plied before the Masbate City-Lucena route but got suspended when their MV Maria Carmela burned just before reaching Lucena and there …

The Graceful Stars

The Graceful Stars is one of the most recent ships of Roble Shipping Incorporated, a major regional shipping line serving the ports of western Leyte (which I wonder why it is not a separate province as it is economically viable on its own, it has a ready capital in Ormoc and it speaks a different …

Roble Shipping Is Finally Sailing To Mindanao

Last month, September of 2017, Roble Shipping has finally sailed to Oroquieta, the capital of the small Mindanao province of Misamis Occidental (which actually hosts a lot of ports and among them are Ozamis and Plaridel ports). It is maybe the first port of call in Mindanao ever for Roble Shipping and it is actually …

The Ferry MV Tacloban City of William Lines

When I first saw the MV Tacloban City of William Lines in the late 1980's, I did not think much of her. She looked small and having ridden small ferries already I thought she had not that much to offer. Among liners then in the North Harbor she was among the smallest already in the …

RORO Developments in Northern Cebu

In northern Cebu, easily the most busy is Hagnaya port which is so known that it even eclipses its town of San Remigio in name recall in many people. This is so because tourism to Bantayan island has really boomed as it became one of the getaways of Cebuanos. And besides the island is also …