Montenegro shipping firm opens area office in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Montenegro Shipping Lines, a domestic shipping company based in Batangas City, has opened a Visayas area office here in Cebu to strengthen its presence and to properly supervise and control its operations in the Visayas and Mindanao area.

General Manager Vicente Montenegro, Jr. said the Visayas Area Office, located at the North Reclamation Area, was opened to basically cater to the needs of the ports and stations that they service here in the Visayas and in Mindanao.

Montenegro Shipping, which operates RORO vessels, currently has stations in Bogo City, Tabuelan and Toledo City in Cebu and satellite offices in Bacolod, Dumaguete and Surigao.

“Instead of opening offices in Bogo, Tabuelan and Toledo where our stations are, we decided to open an office in Cebu because it is the center of trade and commerce in the province and almost all cargoes come from here,” he said.

The company operates 38 vessels, with services spanning the Nautical Highway in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It has also invested on 25 buses to ferry passengers to and from their stations.

“We invested on 19 air-conditioned buses and six non-aircon buses to supplement our RORO services nationwide. These buses will make travel time from Cebu to Manila faster and cheaper. Now you can see buses here in Cebu with destinations like Cubao in Manila,” Montenegro said.

He added that despite the more affordable airline fares, there are still people who prefer to travel by boat or a combination of bus and boat travel, especially those who have cargoes. “We are cheaper by 40 percent in terms of fare compared to big boats and travel time with us is also faster by eight hours,” Montenegro said.

Montenegro Shipping was established in September 1978 and was the pioneer service provider of commercial and public transportation by sea via the Batangas City-Abra de Ilog route. The establishment of the Nautical Highway saw the expansion of the shipping company’s services outside of Luzon.

“The Nautical Highway really connected all the islands in the country. It has paved the way for inter-province trading and has made travel more interesting,” Montenegro said.