Bigger vessel to service Camotes Island-Ormoc City route

CEBU CITY—Residents of Pilar town on Camotes Island will soon have a bigger vessel that can bring them to Ormoc City in Leyte where they buy their supplies.

The Maritime Industry Authority in Central Visayas (Marine-7) has issued a special permit for Jomalia Shipping Corporation.
The route will be Tudela town and Pilar town in Cebu and then Ormoc City.

Pilar Mayor Jesus Fernandez Jr. said he approached officials of the shipping company and asked them to provide a daily trip for Ormoc because no motorboats were able to sail after the sinking of MB Nirvana last week in Ormoc that killed 62 passengers.

Romeo Danganan, operations manager of Jomalia Shipping Lines, said the management was planning to have a permanent route in the area to help the people there.

He said the company is  applying for a permanent certificate of public convenience (CPC) because the special permit is only good for one month.

Danganan said they were ready to serve the new route, but could not start due to the suspension order issued by the Philippine Coast Guard to lift the suspension order on smaller boats because of the gale warning.

He said the initial plan was to serve the Pilar to Ormoc route but the local officials of Tudela asked them to include their town because their residents would also buy supplies in Ormoc.

Danganan said their vessel– MV Mika Mari –would serve the route. It is a 271-gross-tonnage vessel with passenger capacity of 223. It can also accommodate rolling cargoes because it is a roll on roll off vessel.###