Nenaco ships pass international safety test

Domestic shipping giant Negros Navigation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Corp. (MPC), announced yesterday that all Nenaco passenger and cargo ships passed international standards of safety.

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) gave Negros Navigation its stamp of approval after passing the requirements of the surveillance audit conducted recently at Pier 2 in Manila. Getting an above average rating, the MARINA issued a document of compliance (DOC) declaring Nenaco ships "safe based on the provisions of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code."

"The safety of our passengers and cargo has always been our primary concern at Nenaco. In fact, we are very serious about this that we have a safety and skills enhancement program given to all ship captains, officers and crew. Our training bureau facilitates rigorous training which provides actual drills on the proper handling of crisis situations like fire, collision, grounding, man overboard, abandon ship, terrorism, explosion, equipment failure, death and injury onboard. Our crew is ready for just about everything," said president and general manager Conrado A. Carballo.

Nenaco also purchased recently P50 million worth of safety equipment which also conforms to international shipping standards.

The ISM code is an international law that aims to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury or loss of life and the avoidance of damage to the environment and to property.

In a related development, Nenaco signed a memorandum of agreement with Smart Communications, which will enable cellphone subscribers to use their mobile phones onboard Nenaco ships for the most part of their journey.

Smart Communications started installing GSM indoor antennas onboard Nenaco vessels to strengthen network coverage while at sea. Once fully set up in all of Nenaco’s passenger ships, Smart users will be able to enjoy improve connectivity. A sea voyage of 19 hours (from Manila to Bacolod), for instance, will just have a total of one to two hours of no signal, from eight hours of no coverage. This feature is initially available to M/S Mary Queen of Peace and M/S St. Joseph the Worker servicing Iloilo, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro.

Negros Navigation is one of the pioneers in the domestic shipping industry. It has 14 ports of call, including Bacolod, Iloilo, Roxas, Dumaguit Estancia, General Santos, Palawan, Tagbilaran, Cebu, Cagayan, Iligan, Ozamis and Zamboanga.