MARINA allows Negros Navigation to operate VisMin routes for Undas

MANILA -- The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) has granted a permit to Negros Navigation Company Inc. to operate along various routes in the Visayas and Mindanao to address passenger demand for the All Saints and All Souls Day break.

Negros Navigation, a holding company of 2GO Group Inc., will serve the Manila-Iloilo-ZamboangaGeneral Santos-Davao routes from Oct. 21 to 31, 2018.

The vessels that will be sailing on these routes will undergo final repairs while the shipping firm awaits for the result of the hearing before it is issued with a Certificate of Public Convenience.

“As the single maritime administration in the Philippines that is responsible in establishing and prescribing routes, zones, or areas of operations of domestic ship operators, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) supports the reopening of passenger shipping operations to serve the Manila-Iloilo-Zamboanga-General Santos-Davao routes,” MARINA said in a statement Sunday.

The reopening of the Manila-Mindanao shipping routes will provide an affordable mode of transportation to commuters as a one-way air trip ticket from Manila bound for Davao City in Mindanao and vice versa which usually takes an hour and 45 minutes amounts to approximately PHP3,000 – PHP5,000 while a sea trip ticket for Manila to Davao which takes two to three days may be purchased for as low as PHP 2,600, according to MARINA.

The agency said it is committed to provide more passenger shipping services to unserved coastal areas, islands, or regions in the country - where sea transport is needed for the movement of people, goods, and services. (PNA)