Domestic carrier Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc. has inked a 10-year bareboat charter agreement with Southern Pacific Holding Corp. (SPHC) for a 123-meter roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) passenger ferry.
The vessel will have a gross revenue tonnage of about 8,800 tons and will be constructed at Fukuoka Shipyard in Japan. Classified by ship classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, the vessel will be able to carry a total of 1,085 passengers, 24 buses, and 11 trucks, and will be delivered in June 2021.
The 10-year agreement, with an option to renew for another 10 years, is in line with Trans-Asia’s commitment to accommodate more passengers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
The agreement follows the bareboat charter party previously executed by Trans-Asia’s parent company Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Inc. with SPHC’s parent company Kumiai Senpaku Co., Ltd. for a vessel that will be delivered in April 2020.
“Every sealed partnership is a reason for us to celebrate and look forward to a promising future not only for the business per se, but also for the Filipinos who need more reliable, more efficient, and safer shipping and logistics. We are privileged to have partnered with Kumiai, whose world-class shipping services we would want to emulate,” Chelsea president and chief executive officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy said in a statement.
Chelsea last July held launching rites in Japan for its 98-meter bed/seat roll-on/roll-off passenger (RoPax) ferry, the group’s 10th such vessel, which is scheduled for delivery to the Philippines in October 2019.
With the new vessel’s delivery, Chelsea’s fleet now totals 89 vessels, including 30 RoPax vessels, 11 fastcraft, 15 cargo ships, 12 tankers, 15 tugboats, four barges, and two floating docks, through its subsidiaries Chelsea Shipping Corp., Starlite Ferries, Inc., Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, and Fortis Tugs Corp.
In May, Chelsea also signed a bareboat charter agreement with Kumiai Senpaku for the latter to finance the construction and acquisition of a passenger vessel for Starlite.
