MANILA, Philippines - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is supporting the safety measures and modernization program of the Philippine domestic shipping industry as it extends a P2.3-billion loan support for the acquisition of 10 FastCat vessels by Archipelago Philippine Ferries Corp. (APFC).
APFC secured JICA’s funding support from the Logistics Infrastructure Development Project of the state-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for the 10 roll-on, roll off (RoRo) vessels.
The shipping firm will soon launch the second of 10 passenger RoRo vessels, which will serve the Batangas-Calapan route deemed a vital link in the Philippine western nautical highway.
JICA Philippines senior representative Eigo Azukizawa said the agency would continue supporting efforts of the Philippine government.
“The Philippine government wants to assure safe sea travel and efficient sea based logistics, which are vital for sustainable economic development in an archipelagic country like the Philippines,†Azukizawa added.
The 967-ton FastCat, designed by Sea Transport of Australia and built by Boni Fair Development Ltd., is the first locally-owned, brand-new and internationally classed Catamaran passenger-RoRo vessel to operate in the Philippines.
It is suited to the climate conditions of the Philippine seas and is equipped with up-to-date safety features such as double hull with 10 watertight compartments, stable buoyancy with no ballast tanks to hold water inside.
It is fitted with modern fire protection and fighting systems and installed with the state-of-the-art navigation and control systems. It has a top speed of 20 knots and could cover the Batangas-Calapan distance in 90 minutes.
The vessel will have the capacity to carry 275 to 320 passengers including facilities to cater to the needs of senior citizens and people with disabilities. It can also accommodate 30-40 passenger cars and six to seven trucks/buses.
The decision of APFC to introduce the FastCat in the Batangas-Calapan Route and the forthcoming delivery of additional brand new passenger-RORO vessels is expected to revolutionize the domestic shipping industry towards using brand-new vessels replacing the practice of importing used vessels.
JICA is a Japanese agency responsible for implementing the technical cooperation, grant aid and yen loan programs of Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries such as the Philippines. It is the world’s largest bilateral aid agency with about $10.3 billion in financial resources and a network of more than 100 overseas offices around the world.