VG Shipping Lines launches 2nd RoRo vessel to ply Vismin

CEBU, Philippines – VG Shipping Lines Corporation launched Saturday its second Roll-On-Roll-Off (RoRo) passenger vessel called M/V VG RoRo I, to connect the Visayas and Mindanao is-lands and make it easier for tourists to visit from one destination to the other.

VG Shipping Lines, one of the pioneers in opening up missionary routes in Cebu-Bohol route, has expanded its destination targets, while the demand for RoRo facilities is in-creasing specifically in the Southern Philippine area, said the company's operations manager Adel A. Garcia.

Established in 1979, VG Shipping Lines' vessels have been offering transportation facilities to emerging tourism destination in the Visayas, making Cebu as its hub port.

According to Garcia, although the shipping industry is not as profitable now, compared before, he said there is a need for players to improve their facilities, specifically open-ing up the missionary routes in order to start off demand, and RoRo services is now one of the advantages that players could compete amid the competition with cheaper air-line fares.

He said more travelers from all over the country, even the groups of foreign tourists, prefer to travel with cars, and that the RoRo facility, or the mobile-bridge is now consid-ered as an advantage for traditional passenger shipping operators.

VG Shipping Lines is the first beneficiary in Cebu of the Development Bank of the Philippines' (DBP) Maritime Leasing Corporation, which programs are geared towards promoting and providing RoRo vessels to shipping companies through lease-to-own or lease-to-operate contracts, in line with the government's bid to bridge the islands around the country.

The new vessel, M/V VG RoRo I, a P137 million ship, can accommodate a total of 210 passengers, and 40 cars, and can also carry about eight 10-wheeler trucks, and a total of 12 buses.

By end of September, the vessel will launch its maiden trip or commercial operation carrying cars and passengers from Cebu to Talibon in a brief three-hour voyage, then the vessel will sail to Cagayan de Oro, every Monday to Friday, and will have a special side-trip to Nasipit every Wednesday.

"This is our way of connecting Cebu via RoRo facilities to other islands in the Visayas and Mindanao," said Garcia in an interview during the formal launching of the M/V VG RoRo I.

Talibon is located on the northwest side of Bohol, Garcia said the opening of the RoRo facility here connecting Cebu-Bohol-Cagayan de Oro and Nasipit is seen to improve trade and commerce as well as tourism in these destinations.

RoRo ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, semi-trailer, trucks, trailer or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels. These vessels have built-in ramps which allow cargo to be efficiently "rolled on" and "rolled off" the vessel when in port.

While, smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances still often have built-in ramps, the term RoRo is generally reserved for larger ocean-going vessels.

VG Shipping Lines Corporation, also operates other vessels connecting Cebu to other islands such as the M/V Andy 2 (Cebu-Talibon and vice-versa); M/V Ara-A (Cebu-Camotes) and M/V Island RoRo 2-plying the Cebu-Talibon route. (FREEMAN)