Trans-Asia to spend P2B for vessels

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On Sunday, government offices such as DTIConstruction Industry Authority of the Philippines (DTI-CIAP), Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority will be leading the job fair.

According to DTICIAP, it will set up a booth to represent registered contractors with vacancies but have no booths in the Jobs Jobs Jobs Caravan to receive applications from jobseekers.

There will also be a one-stop-shop government service for applicants to complete their requirements.

Based on the “Build, Build, Build” website, there are 10,652 positions open for jobseekers. (PNA)

CEBU-BASED TransAsia Shipping Lines Inc. has earmarked P2 billion for the acquisition and rehabilitation of new and existing vessels.

Of the amount, P700 million was spent to acquire a new vessel, MV Trans Asia 1, the biggest so far under the shipping lines’ fleet of vessels.

M/V Trans Asia 1 was unveiled last Friday. It will soon serve the Cebu– Cagayan de Oro–Cebu route. It has a carrying capacity of 1,023 passengers.

Originally built in France, this cargo-passenger vessel has a gross registered tonnage of 11,457 tons, an overall length of 116.07 meters, a breadth of 21.00 meters, and a depth of 12.90 meters. It has two engines and is designed to sail at a speed of 15.0 knots.

The vessel is also equipped with modern equipment and advanced safety features in compliance with international shipping standards.

In the next couple of months, Trans-Asia will also be launching two 500 TEUs cargo freighter vessels – MV Trans-Asia 16 and MV Trans-Asia 17.

MV Trans-Asia 16 will be serving the Cebu–Manila–Cebu route, while MV Trans-Asia 17 will be plying the Manila–Davao– Manila route.

Under renovation are roro-passenger vessel MV Trans-Asia 18, and cargo freighter MV Trans-Asia 15.

Pinky Sy, Trans-Asia vice president for sales and marketing, in an interview on Friday, said the launch of MV Trans-Asia 1 marks the company’s bolder investments in the country’s shipping industry.

She said the company’s thrust is to deploy more vessels that would connect the island economies and bring trade and tourism activities into these areas.

In its Vision 20/20 program, Trans Asia aims to launch 10 new vessels and add 10 new domestic ports of operations. This will bring the company’s fleet to 20 vessels and 20 ports of call in two years.

“We see a lot of potential in the economic developments, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao regions,” said TransAsia president and CEO Arthur Kenneth Sy, in a statement.

At present, the company maintains 15 vessels, of which seven are roropassenger vessels while the rest are cargo freighter vessels. It has 11 ports of call, mostly in the VisayasMindanao area.

Sy said the addition of MV Trans Asia 1 is the company’s initial step to complying with the fleet modernization program of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).

“There would be a lot more (new vessels) for next year as we improve