Upgrading of Antique port to usher return of passenger-cargo vessel

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The upgrading of the San Jose de Buenavista feeder port will be one of the come- ons for the lone passenger-cargo vessel plying Antique to resume its operation in the province after the management decided to skip the route starting next month.

Fr. Edi one Feb rero, chairperson of the Maria Estrella del Mar Shipping, Inc., said they looked forward to the resumption of trips of the M/V Maria Estrella del Mar because one of their goals is to reopen the maritime route from Antique to Cuyo, Palawan after it ceased in the 1980s.

“I am optimistic with the proposed upgrading of the San Jose de Buenavista feeder port that the M/V Maria Estrella del Mar could return to Antique,” he said in an interview on Friday.

The Philippine Rural Development Project ( PRDP) of the Department of Agriculture will fund the proposed port upgrading of San Jose de Buenavista worth P290 million.

“I hope the upgrading could start this year so it could already accommodate commercial and roll-on-roll-off vessels,” Febrero said.

M/V Maria Estrella del Mar, on a drydock in Cebu City for the replacement of its machine, is set for a sea trial on Feb. 6.

It used to ply the Iloilo - San Jose de Buenavista- Cuyo route.

Effective next month, it will proceed directly to Cuyo from Iloilo and to Puerto Princesa in Palawan due to concerns about sustainability and the difficulty of berthing at the feeder port in San Jose de Buenavista.

“Although San Jose de Buenavista is also growing, we need to study first the market to make the route sustainable,” he said.

He said there were not enough passengers and cargo the vessel could transport from Antique to Palawan.

Also, most traders in Antique with businesses in Palawan buy their goods from Iloilo.