Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (CLIHC) has inked an agreement with Japan-based Fukuoka Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. for the construction of a 123-meter passenger roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessel.
The passenger ferryship, which can carry a total of 1,085 passengers, 24 buses, and 11 trucks, is scheduled to be delivered in June 2021 after the two companies signed the agreement on June 20, 2019.
“Our thrust of improving the shipping and logistics industry, together with Fukuoka’s more than seven decades of shipbuilding expertise, will allow us to accommodate the growing number of passengers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions while employing a significant number of Filipinos onboard,” CLIHC president and chief executive officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy said in a statement.
“We are certain that we can count on Fukuoka’s leadership and look forward to joining hands with them as we continuously create long-term value for our stakeholders,” he added
Last May, CLIHC also signed a bareboat charter agreement with another Japanese company, Kumiai Senpaku Co. Ltd., one of the largest independent shipping companies in Japan, for the latter to finance the construction and acquisition of a passenger vessel for Starlite Ferries, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CLIHC.
Kumiai previously financed the acquisition by Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Inc.—also a wholly owned subsidiary of CLHIC—of a 67-meter passenger ferry, with Hull No. S-1185, which was subsequently named Trans-Asia 19 and arrived in the Philippines in November 2018.
Aside from Starlite and Trans-Asia, CLIHC’s shipping and logistics businesses include Chelsea Shipping Corp. and Worklink Services, Inc. It also has a 28.15% indirect economic interest in total logistics solutions provider 2GO Group, Inc.
