Cokaliong boosts fleet with M/V Eins Soya

CEBU, Philippines – Cokaliong Shipping Lines Inc. has acquired a new passenger vessel amid the scarcity of sea vessels being sold in Japan and the rising global demand, its chief executive officer said.

Founder, CEO and COO Chester Cokaliong said acquiring M/V Eins Soya, which is the firm’s 11th passenger vessel, from Japan was quite a challenge because many shipping companies from other countries are also buying in Japan, which is widely known to produce quality ships.

“Second-hand vessels are having a scarcity in Japan tungod kay daghan ang gusto mopalit,” said Cokaliong. “The scarcity is now experienced by other local shipping lines.”

M/V Eins Soya, which the company will soon rename once its route is identified, is expected to arrive in Cebu by mid-April this year and to be operational by July or August.

“We still have to renovate the vessel,” the company founder said, noting the renovation could take three months.

Cokaliong disclosed that his company bought the vessel for 450 million yen or roughly P180 million, excluding tax of 23 million and estimated renovation cost of P50 million.

Last January 14, Cokaliong Shipping signed a contract with the broker, Kunimori Engineering Works Co. Ltd., for the purchase of the 19-year-old passenger ferry, which has a gross tonnage of 2,628 and service speed of 15.5 knots.

“I negotiated this [the ship] for nearly a year,” the CEO said, sharing that some shipping companies in Japan would even have to bid out ships to interested buyers because of the high demand.

He projected that the scarcity and rising global demand for ships will continue.

Features

Cokaliong estimated the M/V Eins Soya, which had been on international voyage (from port of Wakkanai, Wakkanai City in Hokkaido, Japan to the port of Korsakov in Russia), to accommodate at least 600 passengers.

Among the ship’s unique features include computerized monitoring of the main and auxiliary engines, bow thrusters (used for easy maneuvering) and navigational equipments such as two radars, one echo sounder, one gyrocompass and one GPS.

Cokaliong noted the ship’s route is still to be identified, saying many provinces and cities in the Philippines are asking the company for additional trips.

He mentioned Cagayan de Oro, which is not yet served by the firm, as one of the options and its other existing ports of call such as Ozamis, Iligan, Nasipit and Masbate.

Currently the shipping operator has a fleet of 10 passenger ships and one tugboat with ports of call in Masbate, Calbayog, Palompon, Cebu, Iloilo, Tagbilaran, Maasin, Jagna, Dumaguete, Dapitan, Ozamis, Iligan, Nasipit and Surigao. (FREEMAN)